By Mike Besack, On-line Forty-Niner
April 22, 1997
In three quick and decisive games, the Cal State Long Beach men's volleyball team's playoff run ended almost as quickly as it began.
The 49ers were completely out-matched by UC Santa Barbara, getting drilled 15-8, 15-5, 15-11 in the first round of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation playoffs Saturday night at The Pyramid. It was the third year in a row the 49ers had been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
The loss to the sixth-ranked Gauchos came on the heels of an emotional victory at USC last week, which secured The Beach's reservations for the first round at The Pyramid.
"Of course we're not happy at all with losing," said 49er head coach Ray Rattelle. "But if somebody would have told me at the beginning of the season that we would make it to the playoffs, I wouldn't have believed it.
"This was not a great team," he continued, "but last year, nobody would have picked us to go [to the playoffs]."
The 49ers (19-10) came into the match ranked eighth in the nation, and from the outset, were clearly outplayed. The Beach committed 10 errors in the first game to UCSB's four. The Gauchos (17-8) would continue to play fundamentally sound volleyball throughout the night.
"By and large, we were happy until Santa Barbara came to town," Rattelle said. "They are a veteran team, and it showed."
Freshman setter Chris Seiffert led the 49ers with 53 assists, and senior opposite Geoff Cryst had 26 kills.
Although they were an overachieving team with a mixture of both raw and unpolished talent, the abrupt end of CSULB's season saw its share of highlights.
Junior middle blocker Gaby Amar finished the year second in the nation in blocks, while being named second team all-conference.
According to Rattelle, it was Amar who put the team on his shoulders.
"Gaby was great," Rattelle said. "He pretty much had to carry the load, especially when Geoff [Cryst] got hurt in the middle of the season."
Cryst was sidelined with a broken bone in his foot, but still rebounded with enough time left in the season to earn all-conference honorable mention.
With Amar and the dynamic freshman Seiffert returning to next year's squad, Rattelle has reason to be optimistic for the coming years. Thanks in part to this season's unexpectedly strong finish, the 49ers are looking at one of their strongest recruiting classes in recent memory.
"We'll be young, but talented," Rattelle said.