May's day

By Michelle Fithian, On-Line Forty-Niner

Monday, November 30, 1998

The Long Beach State women's volleyball team closed its own tournament with a victory against Illinois State on Saturday night in The Pyramid. The Beach rolled past Oral Roberts early Saturday and South Florida on Friday.

Saturday was Senior Night in The Pyramid, where The Beach honored its three seniors: outside hitter Jessica Alvarado, middle blocker Benishe Dillard and setter Misty May.

The Beach also honored May by retiring her number (No. 5) in a ceremony before the match. Her jersey will be among six other retired jerseys in The Pyramid, including those of volleyball players Danielle Scott and Antoinnette White.

Illinois State was no match for the The Beach, which swept the Redbirds 15-2, 15-8, 15-5.

Defense was the name of the game for The Beach, as it scooped up 60 digs, 25 more than the Redbirds. Three 49ers reached double digits in digs, with Alvarado leading the team with 15 and sophomore defensive specialist Melissa Ohta and junior outside hitter Kristy Kierulff each with 11.

Dillard hit 13 kills to lead the offense, and junior outside hitter Anja Grabovac picked up 11 kills, with junior middle blocker Brandy Barratt nailing down nine.

May led the team with 40 assists, eight digs and seven kills, while hitting .417.

Early in the first game, the Redbirds scored two. They soon took advantage of a back-row attack call made against The Beach, tying the score at two.

The Beach jumped ahead early in the second game, scoring four straight to grab a 4-1 lead. But the Redbirds preyed on miscommunication among the 49ers, bringing the score to 7-6.

May's jump serve was impeccable as she served for four points in a row to make the score 11-6. Alvarado stepped up and nailed one down, after receiving a tip from junior outside hitter Veronica Walls, to finish the second game 15-8.

In the third game, The Beach never gave the Redbirds a chance and jumped ahead to 7-2.

A block by Dillard and Grabovac, following three kills by Dillard, pushed the score to 11-3. The Redbirds then made two hitting errors, and Grabovac ended the match with a kill, which drove the score to 15-5. "We are only the seventh team to be undefeated in a regular season in NCAA history," said 49er Head Coach Brian Gimmillaro. "I thought we played really well. We really controlled both matches. That's a sign of a good team."

Earlier Saturday, The Beach beat Oral Roberts 15-6, 15-4, 15-2 within one hour and 10 minutes.

Alvarado recorded her fifth "double-double" of the season and picked up 14 digs and 11 kills, while hitting .438 for the match.

Friday night The Beach shut down the University of South Florida, beating it 15-6, 15-6, 15-3. The Beach hit .348 for the match, while the Bulls hit only .041.

Ohta and Alvarado both led the team defensively, each digging 10 out of the floor. May had nine digs, and Grabovac and Dillard each grabbed five .

Grabovac tallied nine kills in the match and hit .350, while Walls nailed down seven and hit .333.

The Beach now turns its attention to Madison and the NCAA Western Regional Tournament, which begins this weekend.