Photo by Stacy Starr

Coming into the Pyramid Friday afternoon for Long Beach State’s 1pm match against the UMBC Retrievers, it was immediately obvious that this was a different situation than the 49ers’ first two contests.  There was nobody taking money at the parking lot, the stands were empty, there was no band, no noise, and no hype.  There were so few fans on hand that the team didn’t throw out the little volleyballs they usually toss into the crowd during the announcement of the starting roster.  In other words, the Pyramid was a nice, quiet place to go to work, which is just what the ‘Niners (1-2) did in their first win of the season, winning 25-20, 25-20, 25-21

It was the first match of the season that Long Beach was favored to win, after opening against no. 15 San Diego and no. 2 Texas; and against a less imposing opponent, the team found its rhythm more easily, and corrected many of the passing errors and other timing issues that plagued their season’s start.  The team hitting jumped up to .321, led by Naomi Washington, who took over the way you’d want a senior All-American to, with 16 points on 18 swings, and an astounding .722 hitting percentage.

The team (and its coach) bemoaned some focus issues, specifically allowing the Retrievers back into set two.  “My expectations are the same for every game,” said head coach Brian Gimmillaro.  “This is a long process…I knew the outcome would be okay if we could just execute.”  Asked if it was nice to get his first win, he scoffed and said, “Twenty five more to go…”

Washington, who missed practice this week after suffering a concussion, was happy with her performance, but said the empty arena made it a little harder to bear down.  “I think it was a little harder to focus, because it was so quiet—you could hear a pin drop.”

Long Beach State is back in action later tonight against Indiana State, and then will face Northwestern on Saturday evening before heading off on a road swing through Louisiana.