Long Beach State University Athletics
Women's Volleyball begins season hosting San Diego, Texas
8/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 24, 2009
Long Beach, Calif. -
Complete Volleyball Release in PDF Format 
THIS WEEK:
No. 15 San Diego Toreros (0-0, 0-0 WCC) at
No. 23 Long Beach State 49ers (0-0, 0-0 Big West)
Date: Friday, August 28
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Walter Pyramid
No. 2 Texas Longhorns (0-0, 0-0 Big 12) at
No. 23 Long Beach State 49ers (0-0, 0-0 Big West)
Date: Saturday, August 29
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Walter Pyramid
COMING UP:
UMBC Retrievers (0-0, 0-0 America East) at
No. 23 Long Beach State 49ers (0-0, 0-0 Big West)
Date: Friday, September 4
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Walter Pyramid
Starting Out
Long Beach State begins the 2009 campaign with two outstanding contests, facing two ranked opponents in No. 15 San Diego and No. 2 Texas, before playing host to a match between the visiting Toreros and Longhorns. The 49ers start the season in the Walter Pyramid on Friday, August 28 against San Diego at 7 p.m., and then host No. 2 Texas the following evening on Saturday, August 29 at 7 p.m. San Diego and Texas will then face each other on Sunday, August 30 at 4 p.m.
Climbing the Ranks
Long Beach State will debut in the Top 25 for the third consecutive season, ranking No. 23 in the AVCA Preseason Poll released today. The 49ers are looking to defend their 2008 Big West Championship and make a 23 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance in 2009. Long Beach State is the only Big West team ranked in the preseason poll, but Cal Poly and UC Irvine both received votes in the poll.
Around The League
Long Beach State was picked to defend its 2008 title as picked by the coaches in the 2009 Big West Preseason Poll. The 49ers received four first place votes and 75 total points to take the top spot, edging out UC Irvine who received 73 points and three first-place votes. Cal Poly took the remaining first-place votes and the third spot, while Pacific and UC Santa Barbara rounded out the top half of the preseason projection.
Coming This Weekend
Long Beach State's match against Texas will also feature the debut of Big West Live, a twitter feed designed to provide additional coverage of selected Big West events. Provided by the Big West, it is a Twitter feed designed to give fans an in-the-stands view of the best the Big West has to offer. Bringing nearly instantaneous photos, commentary and updates, Big West Live is the first feed of its kind, providing an additional source of information for the upcoming season.
Scouting San Diego
San Diego's first match of 2009 is the matchup with Long Beach State, as the Toreros come off of an NCAA Tournament appearance and a West Coast Conference championship. The Toreros return five starters from their 2008 team, including leading attacker Amy DeGroot, who led the Toreros in kills, aces, and blocks while being second on the team in digs.
Long Beach State vs. the Toreros
Long Beach State leads the all-time series with San Diego 10 games to 4, though the Toreros won the last meeting between the teams in the 2007 opener, falling 29-30, 27-30, 14-30 in a match played in the Goldmine in upper campus. The last win for Long Beach State in the series came in 2004, a 30-25, 26-30, 30-17, 30-22 victory that came the last time the two teams played in the Walter Pyramid.
Scouting Texas
Texas returns one of the top squads in the nation, starting the year ranked No. 2 and bringing back six starters from the 2008 team that advanced to the national semifinals. The Longhorns return a trio of top hitters in Ashley Engle, Juliann Faucette and Destinee Hooker, losing only Middle Blocker Lauren Paolini from last years starters.
Long Beach State vs. the Longhorns
Long Beach State has never lost to Texas, winning all three matches played between the two teams. The 49ers won the first match between the teams in 1988, and then defeated the Longhorns in the team's undefeated run to the national championship in the NCAA Tournament in 1998. The last meeting between the teams came in 2003, a 30-26, 26-30, 30-27, 30-22 win in the Walter Pyramid.
Star Frosh Freshman Caitlin Ledoux picked up a couple of impressive awards from the Big West, as the conference announced their postseason awards. Ledoux, an outside hitter from Phelan, Calif., was named the Big West Freshman of the Year after being a key part of the 49ers run to the conference championship. Ledoux led the 49ers in kills, averaging 3.21 kills per set and finished second in service aces and third in digs on the year. She was also named to the conference's All-Freshman team among the freshman awards. Ledoux is the first LBSU frosh to win the Big West Freshman of the Year award since Alexis Crimes, who went on to be a four-time first-team All-Conference selection.
Nationally ...
Middle Blocker Naomi Washington led the way for the 49ers in national recognition on the year. A junior, Washington led the team in hitting at .351, and was third in kills with 288 while finishing with 115 total blocks. Washington earned honorable mention All-America honors from both the AVCA and Volleyball Magazine, while also picking up first-team All-Region honors. Senior setter Nicole Vargas also picked up All-Region honors, being selected as an honorable mention.
Big West Champs
Long Beach State's win on the road against Cal State Fullerton, a 25-16, 25-22, 26-24 sweep over the Titans secured Long Beach State's 9th Big West Championship in women's volleyball. The championship is the first for the 49ers since 2005, when they shared the title with UC Santa Barbara. It's also the first outright title for the 49ers since 2001, when The Beach advanced all the way to the National Championship game.
Big West Bests
As fitting the conference champions, Long Beach State led the conference with the most players on the Big West All-Conference teams, as chosen by the league's coaches. The 49ers had five players named to the first-team, the most for LBSU since the National Championship team of 1998, that celebrated their reunion with this year's team earlier in the year. Freshman of the Year Caitlin Ledoux made her first team, as did middle blockers Naomi Washington and Brittney Herzog. Outside hitter Quincy Verdin also made the first team for the second consecutive year, and Nicole Vargas made her second appearance on the first team, and third overall in the All-Conference honors as the only setter placed on either the first team or honorable mention lists.
22 And Counting
Action in the Big West along with two 49er wins with two weeks to play secured a 22nd consecutive NCAA berth for Long Beach State. With two games still left to play, the 49ers held a two-game lead in the conference standings, and owned all tiebreakers that would determine the Big West's automatic entry into the tournament. Long Beach State's 22nd consecutive tournament is matched by only three programs in the nation in Stanford, Nebraska and Penn State and only one of those programs, Penn State, has been led by the same coach for all of those appearances, as Brian Gimmilllaro has for the 49ers.
This and That
Despite returning a core of six experienced players, Long Beach State is also relying on 10 players without Division I experience ... the 49ers bring back two players who redshirted last year at LBSU as well as Megan Johnson, a redshirt at Wyoming ... the 49ers also had one additional redshirt in Michelle Osunbor, who spent last year on the bench after playing in 2007 ... the 49ers return three first-team All-Conference players in Naomi Washington, Brittney Herzog and Caitlin Ledoux ... the 49ers play seven teams that received votes in the preseason poll, and of course, are ranked themselves for the third consecutive season to start the year.
