Versatile all around talent Delainey Aigner-Swesey leads Niner volleyball on the road. Photo courtesy of Robert Burge.
In the land of the mid-major, in the not so wild Big West, the competition is measured. Not too many TV games, or big crowds, or (with apology to the incredible Jared Weaver) famous alums.
The athletic mangers of the member schools pick their fights carefully, realizing that dollars are dear, perception is powerful and everybody keeps score differently.
At L.B.S.U. (which may indeed be an acronym for Low Budget State University) the Beach brass appears to have an edifice complex. They talked the President into a new student fee increase (and got a sizeable gift from the generous Bickerstaff family) but the Niner shopping list so far includes lights for the soccer field, refurbishment of the Pyramid—floor design, locker room redo, and new scoreboards for softball and soccer.
Meanwhile on the other side of the orange curtain, Fullerton State is in a state of confusion. They still have no AD, no Sports Information Director, no Women’s softball coach, and an interim men’s basketball coach. Basketball boss Bob Burton was more or less forced out and softball coach Michelle Gromacki filed a suit on her way down Nutwood Ave. and out of town.
Maybe the CSUF edifice stuff has mixed results. Clearly the softball and baseball facilities are among the best in the Big West but while mopping up results from last Saturday night I caught the end of the web cast of the Lady Titan volleyball five set thriller with Hawaii. The announcer asked Coach Carolyn Zimmerman what she told her team in their comeback effort against the Bows. “Did you go into the locker room with a really good speech?” asked the enthusiastic Patrick Alog. Coach Zimmerman answered, “Oh no, we stayed in the hallway, the locker rooms are way too hot.”
Our editorial note completed, we now return to the Beach fall sporting season already in progress.
The highest ranking bunch is the 22nd-ranked Long Beach State women’s soccer team who has a pattern of coming back in the final minutes. Last weekend it was freshman Liz Lyons scored the game-winner in the 71st minute of a 1-0 victory over U of San Diego.
The victory was enough for the 49ers to finish their non-conference slate at 7-3-0 and have given their older fans some cardiac moments having scored the game-winning goal in either the second period or overtime in six games this season.
The speedy Ms. Lyons worked her scoring magic with fellow freshman Hannah Sanders, while sophomore goalkeeper Marrina Meyers compiled six saves in the win. That effort was deserving of the Big West defensive player of the week award. Meyers led Long Beach State to the victory marking the 49ers’ 12th consecutive home win dating back to last year. The Vista, Calif., native compiled six saves, just two shy of her career high, and picked up her third shutout (Meyers had a spectacular play in the 63rd minute, making a diving stop that kept the game scoreless until LBSU struck at the 70:48 mark).
The offense however was still slumbering. LBSU finished with just 12 shots—Lyons’ three attempts and Nadia Link and Taylor Nelson added two shots each. Unlike volleyball the 49ers hav e now defeated USD, 1-0, in each of the last three meetings between the two teams. In 2011, the 49ers topped the Toreros in San Diego, and at UCLA in the NCAA Sweet 16.
As our Week in LBSU item shows the Beach gals return to action this weekend when it begins Big West Conference play on the road at UC Riverside on Friday and at Fullerton on Sunday.
Back to the inside game, where you can use your hands and feet as well as your head, the Beach volleyball team climbed back over .500 with wins over Cal Poly 3-1 and a total thumping of once feared UC Santa Barbara 3-0. The coaching resumes were impressive, 38 seasons for Gaucho coach Kathy Gregory and a mere 28 years for the youngish Brian Gimmillaro.
This week has a modest road challenge at CSUN then a ride across the Pacific to play Hawai’i among the tee leaves and passionate fans. The good news is although Erin Juley joins Haleigh Hampton in the out for the season list, Alma Serna is somewhere between 80 and 110 percent.
Serna, the Mission Viejo—Capistrano Valley star, hit over .500 in a pair of conference victories to claim Big West Women’s Volleyball Player of the Week accolades. The 6-3 middle blocker attacked at a .511 (27-3-47) clip to power the 49ers to home court triumphs against Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara. Serna was especially impressive in a sweep of the Gauchos, hitting a sizzling .611 with a team-leading 11 kills and no errors in 18 attempts. Serna also tallied three solo blocks. In addition to leading the team in kills both matches, Serna averaged 3.86 kills, 0.86 digs and 0.86 blocks per set while committing just three errors in 47 attempts.
The only training room issue now is the flu-like symptoms from Delaney Aigner-Swesey but by the weekend she should be hitting on all cylinders.
Last of the fall looks includes tennis which spent last weekend in exhibition mode amongst some pretty good programs in Glitter Gulch at the UNLV tournament. Coach Jenny Hilt Costello had a bunch of big buck boosters on campus for a fund raiser a week or so ago. The next team visit is to the less daunting Fullerton fall invite where the defending BWC champs will try to dial in some new comers from Spain, Belgium and Sweden October 5 to 7.—DR. DAN