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NCAA TOURNAMENT: No. 25 Louisiana State (13-10) at No. 50 Long Beach State 49ers (18-7), Saturday, May 9, 9am @ Stanford<\/span><\/p>\n The 49ers make their sixth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament this weekend, at Stanford. The Beach will start play on Saturday, May 9 against No. 25 LSU in the first round. With a win, the team would then face Stanford on Sunday, May 10, unless unranked Wichita State pulled off a huge upset. Fans can view the matches via Stanford’s website, www.gostanford.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n “We’re really excited to make the tournament again and to have this opportunity. We’re really fired up about going out to Stanford,” said head coach Tony Minnis. “Long Beach is a very good team. We beat them in a very tight match last year. We have to focus on getting momentum back and getting back in the right mindset to compete well against Long Beach.” LSU faced Long Beach State last season when the Lady Tigers knocked off the 49ers, 6-1.<\/p>\n The 49ers have a 1-6 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament. Their best showing came in 2006, when they defeated No. 46 New Mexico 4-1 in the first round before bowing out to No. 2 USC in the second round at USC. In 2007, the 49ers took two points off of No. 20 Pepperdine, falling 4-2 and were swept last year against No. 28 Denver 4-0.<\/p>\n LSU is making its 15th overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament and 14th in the last 15 years. Last season, LSU traveled to Berkeley, Calif. where the Lady Tigers defeated Washington State, 4-0, in the first round and then fell to then-ranked No. 8 California, 0-4, in the second round.<\/b><\/p>\n Long Beach State’s Hannah Grady completed an outstanding dual career, playing her last Big West match April 19 to help the 49ers capture their sixth straight Big West title. Grady, the Big West’s Player of the Year for the last four seasons, only lost one match at No. 1 singles in her conference career. Nearly the entire roster earned conference accolades in 2009, as Lisa Sutton and Jessica Weeks earned doubles honors, while Long Beach State’s 1-4 singles players, Grady, Rachel Manasse, Deborah Armstrong and Anais Dallara were all selected in singles.<\/p>\n From LBSU and LSU reports<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n