The Beach's winning streak hits 22

By Michelle Fithian, On-Line Forty-Niner

Monday, November 2, 1998

The Long Beach State women's volleyball team breezed through Orange County this weekend, shutting down both UC Irvine on Thursday night and Cal State Fullerton on Saturday.

The 49ers pushed their season record to 22-0 overall and 12-0 in the Big West despite the loss of several starters due to injuries.

Seven of the 22 victories have come against teams ranked in the Top 25 in the AVCA/USA Today Coaches Poll.

The Beach remains at the top of its game ranking both No. 1 in the Volleyball Magazine and AVCA/USA Today Coaches Poll for the fourth week in a row.

The 49ers shut down Cal State Fullerton in three straight Saturday night defeating them 15-3, 15-3, 15-5 in a match that lasted one hour.

Senior middle blocker Benishe Dillard led The Beach to victory recording her seventh "double-double" this season nailing down 12 kills and digging 10 out of the floor while hitting .688. At the net, Dillard racked up three blocks and three block assists.

Dillard leads the Big West hitting .429 and ranks fourth in blocks per game with 1.35 and seventh in kills per game with 3.73.

Red-shirt freshman middle blocker Tayyiba Haneef stepped onto the court Saturday, replacing junior outside hitter Veronica Walls, who missed the match due to food poisoning.

Haneef hit an impressive .611 for the match and pounded 11 kills, two digs and one block assist.

Haneef has been the go-to girl this season, showing the depth of the 49er bench.

Senior setter Misty May continues to post strong numbers tallying 31 assists, seven digs, three block assists and two service aces for the match while junior middle blocker Brandy Barratt hit .500 for the match, racking up six kills.

The Beach only made seven hitting errors and hit .451 for the match and tallied 42 digs, 35 assists and 39 kills. Fullerton hit in the negative against the 49ers with a -.037 for the match.

The Beach faced off against UC Irvine at Crawford Hall Thursday night and shut down the Anteaters 15-2, 15-0, 15-3. The 49ers hit a season-high of .585 for the match and recorded only two hitting errors.

Junior outside hitter Anja Grabovac led The Beach with 10 kills and a .529 hitting percentage. Grabovac has had a solid season for the 49ers averaging .310 hitting percentage, improving her 1997 average of .196. Her 197 total kills this season is second-best on the team, while her 153 digs is third.

Grabovac has four "double-doubles" this season and is averaging 2.88 kills per game.

Senior outside hitter Jessica Alvarado returned to the court in only her third match after resting a stress fracture in her left leg, adding seven kills and a .538 hitting percentage in the win.

Dillard remained solid hitting .545 and added eight kills to her season totals. Dillard also tied her career-high in block assists with nine. May racked up 31 assists, seven digs and six kills for the match.

This week The Beach comes home and faces Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and UC Santa Barbara.

The 49ers will meet Cal Poly SLO on Thursday night at 7:30 and No. 9 UCSB on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.