TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 1999

The Beach finishes tough

By Greg Hanson

On-Line Forty-Niner

The Long Beach State men's volleyball team finished a tough week with victories over second-ranked UCLA at Pauley Pavilion on Wednesday night and third-ranked Lewis University in The Gold Mine on Saturday night.

Against Lewis, which is located in Romeoville, Ill., Long Beach came out firing.

The Beach cruised in the next two games, winning 15-6 and 15-7, to complete the sweep of the overmatched Flyers. The 49ers improved their record to an impressive 12-1.

McKienzie led the team in kills again, with 22. Prosser had 17 and an incredible hitting percentage of .739 while Faber had 14 and 3 service aces.

Sophomore outside hitter Jim Polster, who had 12 kills and 8 digs, said that the momentum from the match against UCLA kept going for the 49ers against Lewis.

"Midwest teams think that they are better than the West Coast teams," Lewis said. "If we lose it's embarrassing."

The 49ers, ranked fourth in the nation, squeezed by UCLA 12-15, 15-10, 7-15, 15-13, 17-15. It was the fourth consecutive loss for the Bruins, their longest losing streak in team history.

It was the 49ers' first win at Pauley Pavilion since 1992.

The 49ers next play at home on Friday against the University of Hawaii in The Pyramid at 7:30 p.m.