NOTES ON MY NAPKIN:  WEEK BEHIND, WEEK AHEAD AND OUR OWN WIKI LEAKS
 
The front fold of our napkin is of course about LBSU’s 24th consecutive NCAA women’s volleyball tournament invite, delivered and accepted Sunday afternoon. The back fold has some hot stove league material about college baseball and in between everything that bounced, or rolled, or splashed or dribbled the past week.
 
As you can read elsewhere in your Post today, the Gimmillaro gang had to run a 22-hour gauntlet of Notre Dame, Akron and Seattle without a misstep (they swept all three matches) then await the results from the NCAA’s perfume-filled selection Sunday room. And as it has been for the past 24 years, the Beach got their invite to a party from which they have taken home three crowns (1989, 1993, and 1998) and two in the pre-NCAA days (1972, 1973). Back in the day that the current streak started in 1986, technical problems grounded the first space shuttle, an error by Bill Buckner cursed the Mets, 49er running back Mark Templeton set the NCAA career receptions record with his 262nd catch, Mike Tyson was given his first chance of winning a heavyweight title and the public could, for the first time, buy a Macintosh computer (a mere $2500). Computers are a lot cheaper today but the volleyball landscape is lot more crowded.
 
Next backward glance is of course men’s basketball. After the impressive two-game win streak in the Virgin Islands (Saint Peters and Iowa), I promised my pal that he would love a Saturday night lashing of LMU in the ‘Mid. He left me a note after the game, “I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn’t it.”  

Actually he swiped that line from the late and great Groucho Marx but you get his drift. My only explanation for the loss to the previously awful Lions was a leftover tryptophan buzz from Thanksgiving Day.
 
Oh yes, the friendly ghost Casper Ware led Long Beach State with 18 points, six assists and three steals, but like last year, the result was another overtime defeat, this one 80-77. Phelps, Robinson and Anderson played well on the offensive half of the court but alas the Lions went on an 8-3 run to close out the game and secure the non-conference win.

There was better news on the ladies side of the coach’s hallway as Jody Wynn finally got Courtney Jacob (22 points) off the MASH list and the ‘Niners finally got their first victory of the season, over D-2 North Carolina Central, and by a nice margin, 78-61. The team shot better (78 points on a 32-of-66 (48.5 percent) and had a 45-41 advantage on the boards. Jacob’s presence also improved the mood and movement of freshman Ella Clark (16 points the night before) and Janae Coffey so suddenly the Beach has a frontcourt presence which will be needed as the Beach heads to Houston, Texas, for the Gene Hackerman Invitational, Dec. 3-4. The 49ers open the four-team tournament on Friday when it takes on Prairie View A&M at 3:00pm (PST). ‘Niner assistant Jeff Cammon was a three-year starting point guard and two-time team captain at Alcorn State who, on the men’s side, had some great battles with their conference foe Prairie View. He should know all their secrets.

Next of the napkin notes (this is one of those chicken and rib joint napkins that are really big and really absorbent), is about upcoming people, places and things. On Thursday night, Millikan Lady Ram Coach Lorene Morgan and posse are hosting a wine tasting fundraiser for Jalen Thayer, “son of our Millikan track coach… this is a great way to help and a good way to start your holiday season!”  It is set for Happy Hour (sort of 5: 30pm onward Thursday)… call Sandy or Lorene at 714.334.9706 for the details.
 
The Long Beach State men’s basketball game against BYU-Hawaii on Thursday, Dec. 2, will tip off at 7:05pm at the Walter Pyramid. A start time wasn’t set until yesterday because there was a possibility the Long Beach State women’s volleyball team could have hosted first-round NCAA Tournament action that day. Gee, MBB making room for WVB?
 
Off topic, Pyramid voice Dan Smith did a great job at the 76 Classic at the aging Anaheim Civic Center, including the latest big game stumble by Seth Greenberg as his Va Tech Hokies weren’t okey dokey and got ripped by hot-shooting UNLV.
 
Worst of the LMU calls was when Casper Ware missed on a drive to the hoop and a scramble ensued with Robinson and Phelps involved. Phelps looked to get the “apparent go-ahead goal” with 11 seconds to go. Alas, official Mark Reischling called the charge, not the block, and that was it.
 
This week Long Beach goes back to PAC-10 country for a bunker mentality check down with Washington.  However, playing Iowa in the middle of a sunny island in a friendly ocean is different than playing Washington with rain outside and an unfriendly gym full of disgruntled football fans. If you can romance your favorite sports bar the game is on Fox Sports Northwest. It will be interesting to see if Coach Dan goes back to building his bench minutes or, well, you know. Makes you kind of nostalgic for last year’s extra pieces—bench depth contributors Gilling, Laz and Fleming.
 
LAST ADD—Scouting the 18th-ranked University of San Diego women’s volleyball team… it is the Toreros’ 14th NCAA Tournament appearance and the 10th in the last 11 seasons. The Toreros are coming off a regular-season in which they claimed the West Coast Conference championship with a 13-1 record, while posting an overall record of 23-5… one of those 23 W’s was a come from behind 3-1 over the Beach back when some of the freshmen were very green but Hampton’s foot was feeling better… USD is paced by the WCC Player of the Year in senior Ali Troost (kills 384 at a .334 clip) but there is even more trouble from WCC Freshman of the Year MB Chloe Ferrari.

Long Beach State enters the tournament at 25-7 and features the amazing junior outside hitter Caitlin Ledoux (451 kills at 3.79 kps), and she is hitting at a .242 clip.  The X-factor may be how on-target is senior setter Ashley Lee (998 assists).

Say what you like about wins and losses, the cash box at USC is still doling fine. In that 20-16 loss to the Irish on Saturday, the announced crowd was 85,417 with a second-half rainstorm. On a sunny day, Miami meanwhile drew 27,999 and fired the coach. Well, you have to break some eggs to make an omelet.