Gotta make the sweet potato pie from memory so this will be a Charles Manson Helter Skelter version of the Dust so I can get to making Thanksgiving dinner.

Got two names for you as Beach MVPs last week. The first is the remarkable Alex Sanchez from women’s basketball who carried the 49ers with a season-high 18 points and seven assists in a 71-62 win over Pac-12 foe Washington. This weekend the Beach hits the road for games against Utah Valley, Friday, 2PM in Orem, Utah and then from the toaster oven to a nuclear reactor when the Beach plays at No. 4 Stanford also at 2PM.

My other Beach MVP is the professorially and sartorially Mr. Roy Williams who kept a long ago promise to play at road game at the Pyramid. Mind you the Niners didn’t look so deadly this fall having Lost at USC 66-42 but for half a game they had Roy worried. After all the home fans came out in big numbers, a record-setting 6,912, but the short bench wore down and the Carolina Blue snipers did the rest.

Women’s volleyball (now 16-11, 11-5 Big West) still has post-season dreams but it is a genuine long shot. The queens of spike took down UC Irvine 3-1 when freshman Alex Reid made 18 kills, including nine in the final set, to lift LBSU to a win in the Black-and-Blue rivalry over UC Irvine. That much closer to the lifetime free appetizers at Duke’s. The Central Coast is plugged into Brian Gimmillaros GPS for a trip to UC Santa Barbara Friday for the always tough visit with Kathy Gregory and then the usually not so tough visit to Cal Poly.

The surprising Beach contestants this week come in the black and gold Speedos of the No. 6 men’s water polo team (22-7, 4-4 MPSF) who beat No. 7 UC Santa Barbara 12-10 behind the wet work of Dan Matulis and Nolan McConnell (each had hat tricks) while the top defender was goalie Balint Meszaros (11 saves). That qualified the Niners for the MPSF Conference Tournament where they start with No. 4 Stanford Friday, 3PM at USC.

DUST BUSTING—Leftovers from last Friday, the home boys were as flat as those anthem singers when they played and lost at Arizona Monday night. Both games did expose a glaring weakness of The Beach–rebounding. The 49ers were out-rebounded 55-39 and the offensive margin was even wider with Carolina pulling down 23 and The Beach getting just 12. Same story different venue vs. U of A.

So you want a peek at the future? Three days in March is what will be needed, but the rest of the Big West is not standing still. CSUN comes out of the shoot unbeaten; Irvine claims that they are the new sheriff, etc.

Quote from web wise guy BeachFan on Peter Pappageorge. “Pappa is a nice guy and the players have told me he’s like a coach on the floor. Unfortunately he’s a little too much like a 50yr old coach in his quickness abilities. He is what he is.. .a walk-on JUCO guy that when left alone can hit a 3 to bust a zone from time to time.”

Complaints from the big crowd crowd, the mic failed on that quartet of anthem singers, Clipper Darrel was his shrill self and messed up the player intros, and some of those recently added extra seats were “view obstructed.” But still expensive.

The kids and cheer and dance were excellent, and in fact Hawaii has not observed the Maniac copyright that we thought lived here in LB not on the Islands UH is giving “FREE retro neon shades to the first 200 students in the Manoa Maniacs section!” At least the Bows aren’t quitters like Boise State and SDSU.

Ref world info includes some ladies that have worked ladies b-ball at the Beach, Lauren Holtkamp, and Brenda Pantoja. They join assistant coach Rod Palmer’s sister Violet working the NBA. Palmer and former ref Dee Kantner joined the NBA in 1997.

This note from our pal Misty May. “Just went by Miles Square Park to drop in with the ladies my mom played volleyball with on Monday mornings. It was so nice to see everyone my mom loved. Brought back memories, good ones. Fought back tears but it was such a treat and glad I went. Being it the last day of play with pot luck after…I delivered cupcakes because that is what my Mom would have done. Thanks ladies for always being there for our family and especially mom.”

The Art Johnson shoot-a-thon for women’s hoops is getting good sponsorships from the indefatigable Dennis Pitts. The event is set for December 9th after the Santa Clara game.

From playing in their backyard swimming pool are sporting twin sisters Katie and Allie Larre. In their lifetime, six days is the longest the sisters have been apart, Katie said.

Things will change next fall, however, when Katie heads to Long Beach State. “I basically just fell in love with the school,” she said after a recruiting trip this past summer. “It just felt like it was a great fit.”

Mom Sherrie Larrea shares her daughter’s excitement. “I’m going to miss Katie a lot. …It will be weird to not have them home but hopefully I’ll get to run up some frequent flyer miles and go see her, and hopefully she’ll get some play time her first year.”

Katie also competed in the USA Water Polo Junior Olympics for the past two years with her club team, Pacific Northwest shores, based at the King County Aquatic Center, and has also been a member of the USA Water Polo Olympic Development Program Pacific Northwest Team for the past two years.

Last of the new signees are a trio of WBB talent–guard Anna Kim (Fullerton, Calif.), forward Madison Montgomery (Englewood, Colo.) and point guard Brianna Throop (Highlands Ranch, Colo.). Maybe Throop has the highest upside. “Brianna is an athletic, lanky point guard who likes to push the ball and can defend full court,” Wynn said. “Bri has a tremendous work ethic – she loves the game and is constantly in the gym developing her skills. That inner drive and passion will give her the tools and confidence to compete and lead. She, too, has great high school and club level coaching and will do whatever it takes to win.” Enjoy and be thankful.—DR. DAN