Head coach Brian Gimmillaro will lead his Long Beach State 49ers (25-7) into their 24th consecutive NCAA Tournament together this Friday, when they face off in the first round against No. 18 San Diego (23-5) at 5:00pm in the Galen Center at USC. Long Beach has already fallen to San Diego once this season, in a four-set home match in early September.

But that was before a young and oft-injured team found its footing, as the 49ers then won six of their next seven games and finished tied for second place in the Big West Conference. Now, winners of fourteen of their last sixteen, the 49ers are playing much better than they did in September and will serve up a hot streak against San Diego this weekend.

The winner will play at 5:00pm on Saturday against the winner of No. 6 USC (25-4) and New Mexico (20-9).

The 49ers won three consecutive games over the weekend to improve their record and attract the attention of the NCAA selection committee. Wins against Notre Dame, Akron and Seattle University were all three-set sweeps in the Mizuno Thanksgiving Tournament at the Pyramid. Click here for more volleyball notes from columnist Dr. Dan.