Beach Brooms Bruins, Heading To San Diego
Long Beach, CA- The top-ranked Long Beach State 49ers (32-0 overall) swept by No. 8 UCLA (21-9 overall) in quarterfinal action of the NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship Friday night. Game scores of the match were 30-25, 30-28, and 30-21.
The win sends the 49ers to the national semifinals in San Diego next Thursday where they'll take on the University of Arizona.
The match was witnessed by 4,078 fans, the sixth largest crowd in Long Beach State women's volleyball history. Long Beach State was led by senior Tayyiba Haneef who had 21 kills and 11 digs while hitting .444. For her efforts, the First Team All-Big West selection was named Regional MVP of Long Beach State's bracket.
Fellow senior Cheryl Weaver was strong against the Bruins, ending the match with 18 kills and 5 blocks. As a team, the 49ers had 62 digs, holding UCLA a .165 hitting percentage.
UCLA was led by Kristee Porter who had 14 kills and 4 blocks. She was the only Bruin to finish with double-digit kills.
The match started roughly for the 49ers, as a couple of aces by Lauren Fredrick allowed the Bruins to jump out to a 5-0 lead. A kill by Weaver stopped the run and began a charge for Long Beach State. The 49ers took the lead for the first time in game one at 9-8 and would never let it go. Haneef was impressive in game one with eight kills.
Game two got off to a better start for LBSU as Haneef and Weaver each had a few kills opening up a 9-4 lead. The game opened up to 19-13 in favor of the 49ers before UCLA began a nice run. Helped by a few hitting errors and handling errors by LBSU, the Bruins pulled within a 21-20 score before Long Beach State would regain control. On the way to closing out game two, Long Beach State's Ashanti Taylor had two of her six kills.
Game three began with back and forth play until the 49ers went on a 5-0 run to make it 15-10. From there, the 49ers settled in, finally finishing the match up with a 10-4 run.
Long Beach State and Arizona will meet in one semifinal Thursday night at the Cox Arena on the campus of San Diego State. The other two semifinalists will be determined tomorrow in regionals being held in Lincoln, Nebraska and Stanford, California.
Box Score
All-Region 1 Team Tayyiba Haneef -LBSU (MVP)
Cheryl Weaver - LBSU
Keri Nishimoto - LBSU
Angela Eckmier - UCLA
Kristee Porter - UCLA
Kim Willouyghby - Hawai'i
QUOTES FROM LONG BEACH STATE
Brian Gimmillaro, Long Beach State Head Coach
(On Long Beach State) "We're just thrilled to have the opportunity to represent the school, city and community at the Final Four. Long Beach is a special place and we've got a group of special young people. They deserve the support that the community gives them."
(On UCLA) "UCLA is a good team, but we worked hard on our execution tonight. They're well-coached, Andy (Banachowski) is experienced and a successful coach, and he prepared the team well." Brittany Hochevar, Junior, Long Beach State Outside Hitter
(On the team's ability to score) "We really try to run our offense off of digging, not just serve receive. When we have all those options, it's kind of scary. You don't know where it will come from next."
Cheryl Weaver, Senior, Long Beach State Middle Blocker
(On seniors last match in The Pyramid) "We were talking about it before the game. It's special for me and it's special for all us to be able to win our final home game here."
Tayyiba Haneef, Senior, Long Beach State Outside Hitter (On Long Beach State) "Some teams say we're cocky, but I don't think we're cocky, I think we're real confident. We know we can keep coming at you and we take pride in that. It's easier to do that when we have all those great coverage people (on defense)."
Keri Nishimoto, Senior, Long Beach State Setter
(On kissing the floor at the end of the match) "It's our senior night. It was for all of the seniors. We love playing at home."
Andy Banachowski, UCLA State Head Coach
(on Long Beach State's play) "They played a strong match and should do well next week. Their performance is worthy of their ranking.
(on UCLA's play) "Our play was a little streaky. We couldn't hang with them throughout the entire evening." "As a coach, you are never satisfied when you lose. I'm pleased we battled as well as we did."
(on seniors) "I'm very proud of what they have accomplished. I think they have provided great leadership and set the tone."
Angela Eckmier, UCLA, Junior Middle Blocker " Long Beach State demonstrated great defense tonight. They were able to transition the balls real well."
Kristee Porter, UCLA, Senior Outside Hitter (on her season) "I've been on an emotional roller coaster for the last couple of months."
(on the team's play and her performance) "I think we played hard. It is always disappointing to end on a loss. I can't be upset about my performance. What's done is done. I played hard"
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