4:14pm | Just when you thought that the highly anticipated LBSU men’s basketball team could dominate the local sporting scene along comes Big West titles in volleyball and soccer. Raising the bar? I guess so.
Saturday night the Sweethearts of Spike took down Fullerton on the road and the math said that result virtually guaranteed the BWC volleyball title and automatic NCAA bid. Sunday afternoon the Sweethearts with Spikes took down Irvine on the road and are guaranteed the BWC tourney title and automatic BWC bid.
Ironically UCI might have seen this coming. In a pre-match interview with an Orange County weekly, UCI senior defender Sarah Devine talked about “Long Beach is the biggest rivalry we have and exactly 12 months ago Sunday, we lost that game and watched [the 49ers] hold the trophy up. And this year, that’s just not acceptable. It’s not going to happen. I’m not going to sit there and watch them hold my trophy. It’s ours. It’s for Irvine.” Hopefully Sarah looked away about 1:45 p.m.
One of the neat aspects of this Niner team (15-5) is the chemistry. Last year the anchor was Lindsay “The Sheriff” Bullock, a rough and tumble midfielder/defender. She graduated, and with academic honors, but in the trophy stealing 2010 win at UCI Lindsay won the MVP award that she felt should have gone to her teammate Alex Balcer. Lindsay made a copy of her award and gave it to Alex. So this year, Alex played like her mentor the Sheriff and won the award herself. Both Bullock and Balcer have sisters on the team and, well, lots of chemistry.
And the reward for winning (other than those precious black and blue points and a step closer to the Commissioners’ Cup) for Long Beach State (15-5) is a Saturday no-traffic cruise up PCH to the U with a View, Pepperdine (15-1). First whistle is 1 p.m. UCI gets to host the other WCC entry, USD.
Now back to the basketball talk which has been the favorite sport of LBSU accountants, alumni and aspirants. Both the ladies and the gentlemen get underway this weekend. Jody Wynn has a locker room load of newcomers and will need them to replace their best post player, graduating Courtney Jacob, and freshman whiz Brandi Henton (BWC freshmen of the year) before transferring out last spring. The women start on Friday night against Utah Valley College then go on the road for the next seven games.
The men, who have high hopes for artistic success this year (defined as making the NCAA tourney), are also supposed to please the accountants with big crowds and happy sponsors. They are the culminating event for the Forty-Niner version of homecoming which included a Monday golf tournaments, Wednesday Hall of Fame inductions, and Saturday tailgating with lots of music and food. The pre-game parties outside the Pyramid runs from 11 a.m. until the 2 p.m. tip off with Idaho.
REST OF THE DUST–For the record this years version of the BWC title tilt had a lot of defense and while the Anteaters ganged up on Nadia Link senior Jazz Strozier got the goal in that chilly 1-0 victory over top-seeded and 16th-ranked UC Irvine Sunday afternoon at Anteater Stadium. It was their third appearance in the last four years.
Closing quote: “”I thought it was a great day for Long Beach State,” head coach Mauricio Ingrassia said. “We came in with a game plan; we executed and scored a very nice set piece goal. Hats off to Jeff Joyner, my assistant coach, he works on all of our sets and that was drawn up to perfection.” Another hero he noted was goalies Kristin Gustaves who turned in a dazzling save to keep the 49ers up, 1-0. On a free kick from about 25 yards out, CoCo Goodson sent a bullet through the defense, but Gustaves made a diving stop to her right.
Ladies hoop foes is a former BYU player and Coach Cathy Nixon who is entering her 17th year as the head coach of Utah Valley women’s basketball. Their best player is Sammie Jensen who finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds as UVU notched a 73-57 exhibition win over Western New Mexico on Wednesday night in the UCCU Center. LBSU has been in the game early in a private exhibition with UCLA but the rule is for both men and women that D-1 teams can not make public games against other D-1 teams.
Softball has a new scoreboard thanks to the LBSU Student Body who supported President Alexander’s idea to impost that recent fee increase. Coach Kim Sowder says that the winds that blow toward home from left center may be cut down a bit and her team might just have some more big flies, translated, home runs!!
We never leave a coach without adding some odd question so I asked her to compare Erin Jones-Wesley with Kim’s old teammate, two way star Stacy Von Essen. “Erin is probably a little better pitcher then Stacy but hitting, well Stacy was very good. My guess, EJW will get better.”
There were 130 plus in the Gold Mine for the basketball tip off dinners but the AD and Head men’s coach were at another event. Cindy Masner filled for VC and VC (Vic Couch) for Dan Monson.
Finally a diamond mention. BASEBALL AMERICA’s 2012 recruiting class rankings have four SoCal programs in the Top 25. The list: 1. Vanderbilt; 2. Texas; 3. Southern Mississippi; 4. North Carolina State; 11. Southern California; 16. Pepperdine; 23. Loyola Marymount and 25. San Diego State
Old Coach Dept. “I’m cautiously optimistic,” Seattle Coach Joan Bonvicini said at the team’s media day because Brenda Adhiambo, a 6-foot transfer, and freshman Jessi Williamson, a 6-7 center from Mount Tahoma, added much-needed size. Former Oregon State standout Talisa Rhea, a 5-11 senior, and freshman Renee Dillard-Brown (Garfield) will add speed and scoring. “I’ve definitely challenged these kids much harder than I did my previous teams because this team has been able to accept that challenge,” she said. “Not only have they reached it, they’ve exceeded it.” They were 8-22 during the 2010-11 season, 4-10 at home. The regular-season opener on Nov. 11 is an immediate test, hosting UC Santa Barbara, which is picked to finish second in the Big West.
RAPPIING UP DUST: Women’s Volleyball does the Central Coast shuffle playing at Pacific Friday then at UC Davis Saturday and Men’s Water Polo faces #1 UCLA Thursday, 7 p.m. in the Campus Pool and then at #8 Pacific Saturday, Noon in Stockton.
Back to the booters–. In the other half of the LB-Pepp bracket, Miami is slated to battle Alabama in first round action in Coral Gables, Fla. The winners of the two matches will then meet in the second round on Nov. 18 at campus sites. LBSU earned one of 30 automatic berths into the 64-team field and is in the midst of one of the greatest seasons in program history. With their win in the Big West championship game at UC Irvine, the 49ers established a school record for victories in a season. They also set the program record for goals in a season with 46, topping the previous best of 44, which was set in 2008.
Junior Nadia Link has led LBSU with 15 goals, 10 assists and 40 points. She ranks second in the school’s single-season record books in goals and points and is tied for third with senior Shawna Gordon in assists. Gordon has also had a stellar year with seven goals and 10 assists, while senior Nicole Hubbard has chipped in eight goals and four helpers. Senior Kaitlyn Gustaves has minded the net for the 49ers, posting a Big West leading 0.85 goals against average and nine shutouts. She has also compiled 63 saves
Eighth-ranked Pepperdine (15-1-4) tied San Diego at the top of the West Coast Conference standings but won the tiebreaker by virtue of a head-to-head victory to claim the title and the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. The Waves’ only loss came at then No. 10 Santa Clara. The four No. 1 seeds in the tournament are Stanford, Florida State, Wake Forest and Duke. So who wins? I like the home girls with Ms. Mo on their side.