Long Beach State Rolls Over Toreros In Three
49ers Advance to Round of 16 in NCAA Tournament
Long Beach, CA- The No. 1 ranked Long Beach State 49ers defeated University of San Diego 3-0 Saturday night in second round action of the NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship. 2,372 fans were in the Pyramid to watch the 30-28, 30-16, 30-13 match.
The undefeated (30-0) 49ers will play Northern Iowa next week when the tournament continues. Tayyiba Haneef led all players with Saturday night with 18 kills while hitting .486. Elisha Thomas helped out with 14 kills and Keri Nishimoto dished out 46 assists for The Beach. Jocclyne Roy was the star for the Toreros with 10 kills and 12 digs.
Long Beach State had to stage a small comeback in the opener. After holding the lead throughout the early stages, USD went on a 10-6 run to hold a 24-22 lead, forcing LBSU into a timeout. The Beach regained control out of the timeout and with consecutive stops of USD's Roy (one block, one dig), the 49ers took a 28-26 lead. Roy had been successful on 5 of her first 7 attacks before that sequence.
Game Two was more of a dominant performance by the 49ers. As a team, Long Beach State racked up 21 digs and five blocks on the way to a 30-16 game score. Brittany Hochevar had four digs and four kills in game two. Tracy Bulquerin had six digs in the second stanza alone.
The 49ers kept the momentum and took it to game three, jumping out to an early lead. Keeping the pressure on, Long Beach State saw itself with a 21-12 and coasted to the game three (and match) victory.
Long Beach State will next take on Northern Iowa. Other members of the bracket include UCLA and Hawai'i. Whoever comes out of next week's regional will travel to San Diego for the national semifinals.
Play in the round of 16 for all teams begins Thursday and can run through Sunday. Dates and times for any of those games will announced Sunday by the NCAA
Box Score
QUOTES FROM LONG BEACH STATE
Brian Gimmillaro, Long Beach State Head Coach
(On the play of San Diego in the first game) "I thought their team played pretty well tonight. The win over UC Santa Barbara carried over to the first game tonight. They played exceptional when the game was on the line, but so did we."
(On USD's cross court attack) "We play a variety of defenses when Keri (Nishimoto) is blocking. The goal of all teams when you play Long Beach State is to attack the small setter. I thought our cross-court digging was doing a pretty good job as the match went on."
(On upcoming opponent Northern Iowa) "They have one of the best records over the last few seasons. They beat Wisconsin, who is a top team. They play in a weaker conference, but they schedule some tough matches and do very well. It's a team that's used to winning."
Cheryl Weaver, Senior, Long Beach State Middle Blocker
(On San Diego) "In the playoffs, you expect every team to come out and play well. We knew they were going to be fired up, so we knew we had to come out and execute."
Tayyiba Haneef, Senior, Long Beach State Outside Hitter
(On the difference of playing San Diego in the playoffs versus the regular season) "It's the emotional level. The playoffs are a whole different season than the regular season. You know if you lose one game, you're out. I think San Diego came out more fired up than the first time we played them, but they were in the way to our goal."
Elisha Thomas, Junior, Long Beach State Middle Blocker
(On her play in the first two matches) "I want to be a big help to the other big players on our team. I just want to do my job, help out a lot and play really hard."
University of San Diego
Coach Jennifer Petrie "They are a powerhouse team and they showed that to us tonight. I know they (Long Beach) are on a mission. They are 30-0 now and we were in their way"
(On the difference in the athletic programs) "Our program is building. We have a lot of youth. The next two recruiting classes will help us in the future to reach the top."
Jocclyne Roy, Freshman Outside Hitter
(On the height difference between the teams) "It is difficult to defend a team that is hitting over our block. It was difficult to get as block on them even if I did it went way over me."
(On the momentum carrying over from last night's win vs. Santa Barbara) "The momentum certainly carried over into tonight's game. The first game we came out and gave our best showing. We had nothing to lose and we gave it all we had."
Lindsay Lombert, Senior Middle Blocker (freshman on the team) "I remember looking around and seeing four freshman as our main passers and I was excited for the future of this team." |
