UCLA TO PLAY THE BEACH IN ELITE 8
Bruins Upset Hawaii, No. 1 Niners Sweep Northern Iowa
BOX SCORE -- UCLA VS. HAWAII
BOX SCORE -- NORTHERN IOWA VS. LBSU Long Beach, CA- The top-ranked Long Beach State 49ers (31-0 overall) swept by No. 16 Northern Iowa (31-2 overall) in the second match of the regional semi-final Thursday evening at the Long Beach Pyramid, 30-19, 30-21, 30-14. They will play UCLA for a spot in the 2001 Final Four. The outcome marked only the second loss all year for the Missouri Valley Conference champions. 3, 653 were on hand for the match, the second largest all-time attendance for a tournament at the Pyramid, and the eighth largest in the Pyramid's history. Long Beach State was led by senior Cheryl Weaver's 12 kills at a .450 hitting clip. Sophomore Molly O'Brien tallied 10 kills in leading Northern Iowa. UNI was out-blocked 15-3 in the match, while turning in a season low .087 team hitting percentage. In game one, Northern Iowa was within 20-18 of Long Beach State, but the 49ers used tough blocking in taking 10 of the next 11 points to win the game. The Panthers and 49ers were tied at 9 in game two, at which point Long Beach scored the next 10 points, and eventually won the game by nine. Long Beach State was in control the entire third game, winning 30-14. Long Beach, CA- The No. 14-ranked UCLA Bruins (21-8 overall) upset the No. 11-ranked Hawaii Wahini (29-6) in four games Thursday evening, 30-25, 30-28, 22-30, 30-22 at the Long Beach Pyramid in match one of the regional semifinals. UCLA was led by senior outside hitter Kristee Porter, who tallied 16 kills at a .267 clip. Junior outside hitter Lauren Fendrick recorded a double-double with 10 kills and a Bruin-high 14 digs. Senior outside hitter Ashley Bowles knocked down 11 kills and picked up 11 digs. Sophomore outside hitter Kim Willoughby of Hawaii collected a match-high 35 kills at a .193 clip, also recording 13 digs. She finishes the 2001 season with 850 kills, fourth-highest for a season in NCAA history. In game one, UCLA opened up a 20-13 lead, in which Hawaii eventually closed to 27-25. The Bruins ran off the final three points to take a 1-0 lead in games. Game two was close virtually the entire way, with UCLA again capitalizing late with back-to-back points by the Bruins to win by two. Game three belonged to Hawaii, at one point taking a 17-10 lead. UCLA went on an 8-1 run to tie the game at 18, but Hawaii would counter with a 12-4 run to win by eight. UCLA pulled away about halfway through the fourth game and never looked back, winning 30-22. UCLA will face the winner of the other regional semi-final between top-ranked Long Beach State and Northern Iowa. Coach Brian Gimmillaro
"Tonight we played pretty well in all parts of our game. Different people were doing different things. Tayyiba with her serving and Elisha with her hitting." (on UNI's play) "They had trouble staying in their offence with our serves. They did not have too many options." #6 Brittany Hochever, Junior Outside Hitter
(On how UNI defended LB) "They geared their defense around Cheryl and Tayyiba, which left things open for Elisha and myself. (On tonight's serving) "We always try to serve tough which helps out our physical block." # 26 Elisha Thomas, Junior Middle Blocker
"We have been working on our blocking all season. Specifically, working on squaring up sooner and tonight it really came together." QUOTES FROM NORTHERN IOWA
Bobbi Petersen, Northern Iowa Head Coach
(On the match) "Well, obviously this is not the way we wanted to go out. We give credit to Long Beach State. We saw why they're the No. 1 team. They're an awesome team. I have to say I'm very proud of this team and what they've done this year. I hope Long Beach State goes all the way." (On being in the Sweet 16) "I think this has been great for us because we do have a lot of young kids. In playing Long Beach State and seeing Hawaii and UCLA, it gives them the opportunity to see where we want to go." (On first year as a head coach) "Actually, I couldn't ask for a better first year. I couldn't ask for a better bunch of kids. They've done everything we've asked of them. I'm excited about working with the group we have coming back." Jill Arganbright, Sophomore, Northern Iowa Setter
(On Long Beach State) "With their blocking and their athleticism, and our passes being on the net, it was hard to spread out the offense." Kim McCaffrey, Senior, Northern Iowa Outside Hitter
(On Long Beach State) "They came in with runs and we should have stopped their runs right away. It might have been closer if we could." (On difference between Long Beach State and Minnesota and Wisconsin) "I think the big difference is that Long Beach State has multiple hitters. Minnesota and Wisconsin are zoned in with one of two hitters, but Long Beach State has so many offensive weapons." (On Northern Iowa) "I'm proud of this team. We did an outstanding job. We played with a lot of heart and soul, especially the last two weeks." QUOTES FROM UCLA
UCLA Coach Andy Bahachowski
"We were pretty ecstatic to win the match. There was a fear of going flat and nervous after the third game. We came out with huge blocks at important times." (On playing LB State) "Buy a ticket for that one. Our blocking will be key versus that powerful team. We will give it our best shot against a top ranked team." # 16 Angela Eckmier (on how to win tonight) "We focused on putting big blocks in front of big hitters. We focused more on pairing up against the big hitters." #4 Kristee Porter (On how Hawaii has improved) "They have improved their chemistry and have moved their positions a bit. They have also improved a lot in their defense." (how UCLA is playing now) We have stepped up our game tremendously. We are getting big numbers from a lot of players on the team. Everyone is doing well." QUOTES FROM HAWAII
Dave Shoji, Hawaii Head Coach
(On the match) "I've got mixed feelings. I'm disappointed in the loss, but can't be disappointed in my team. They've had a tremendous year and they're just a great group of athletes all around. I feel real proud of how we've improved and had a chance to win tonight." (On how UCLA was effective) "They were able to set their middles enough and their middles were effective enough to keep us off-balance. They served really tough and we saw many different kind of serves. We tried to pass the ball and run our middles, but we couldn't do it." Kim Willoughby, Sophomore, Hawaii Outside Hitter
(On UCLA's blocking) "I think they did a great job of knowing where the ball was and getting to it. Personally, I don't focus on the block. I'm supposed to be a good hitter, so I knew I had to adjust to their block. I expected to take as many swings as the setter gets it to me." Margaret Vakasausau, Junior, Hawaii Outside Hitter
(On the play of Hawaii) "Our team stayed positive the whole time. UCLA brought their game tonight and we weren't able to convert. We were in every single game, the scores were close, but sometimes they got on runs we couldn't stop." | 
