Honors continue for May

By Manuel Gamiz Jr.,, Special to the Daily Forty-Niner

Wednesday, December 2, 1998

Long Beach State women's volleyball star Misty May earned her third straight Big West Conference Player of the Year award, the conference announced Tuesday.

The 5-foot-9-inch May, who had her jersey retired on Saturday, is the leader of the No. 1 LBSU volleyball squad, which enters post-season play this weekend with an undefeated record of 30-0.

May ranks fourth in the conference in hitting percentage (.401), sixth in assists (12.29 apg) and digs (2.99 dpg) and 10th in service aces (0.31 sapg.)

The Big West also honored LBSU Head Coach Brian Gimmillaro with his second straight Coach of the Year award, while UC Santa Barbara setter Brooke Rundle earned the Freshman of the Year award.

Gimmillaro earned his fifth Coach of the Year award in his 14 seasons at The Beach. He previously earned the honor in 1991, 1992, 1994 and 1997. He has led The Beach to six Big West titles in the last eight years.

Gimmillaro owns a career record of 388-93, and his teams have won 30 or more matches in each of the last three seasons.

May also headlines the 1998 Big West women's volleyball All Conference team, as voted by the conference's 12 coaches. She became the first Big West player to be named first team All-Conference for four straight seasons.

Joining May as a first team All-Conference selection are senior middle blocker Benishe Dillard, junior outside hitters Anja Grabovac and Veronica Walls and junior middle blocker Brandy Barratt.

Senior outside hitter Jessica Alvarado made second team All-Conference, while outside hitter Tayyiba Haneef made the All-Freshman team.

The team will be competing in the first round of the NCAA playoffs Thursday against Southern University at The Pyramid. On Friday, The Beach will face the winner of the Arizona-Fresno State match, which will also be played in The Pyramid.

LBSU has never played Southern in women's volleyball. The team leads its series against Fresno State with a 16-2 record, but trails in its series against Arizona with a 12-6 record.