Post by beachbabe on Nov 27, 2006 3:36:04 GMT -5
www.presstelegram.com/sports/ci_4727303
Women's volleyball: Hosting Tourney for first time since `01
By Frank Burlison, Staff writer
Article Launched:11/27/2006 12:00:00 AM PST
Only seconds before, they had resigned themselves to thinking they were going to be taking a Westwood-bound bus ride on the 405 later this week.
And there was some split-second confusion among the Long Beach State volleyball players early Sunday afternoon when they did see their school's name pop up next to Pepperdine on the television screen as ESPN News was revealing the NCAA Tournament's bracketing and first-round match-ups.
"When I first saw it ," junior middle blocker Alexis Crimes said, "I thought `I'm not reading this right' because I thought I saw `Long Island'."
Then near pandemonium erupted among the gathering of 49ers' players, coaches and boosters in a banquet room at Cirivello's Restaurant and Sports Bar.
"Then I thought `Wait! It is Long Beach!"' the Big West Conference's Co-Player of the Year said, smiling 15 minutes later. "We were ecstatic."
The Long Beach administration submitted a bid to the NCAA recently to play host to one of the 16 first- and second-round sites in the tournament, just as it had every year at this time since it was host during the 2001 tournament.
And, much to the surprise of the Long Beach State players and their coaching staff, the school got that bid from the folks from Indianapolis.
Hooking up in the Friday night first-round matches in the Walter Pyramid will be No. 12 seed Hawaii (26-5) and Oregon (17-11) at 5 p.m. , followed by the 49ers (25-5) and Pepperdine (16-11) at approximately 7 p.m.
The winners will play Saturday at 7 p.m. for the right to advance to regional play in Honolulu the following weekend.
Tickets go on sale at the 49ers' ticket office (562) 985-4949 beginning at 10 a.m. today. All-session tickets are $18 for adults and $12 for students and children.
The 49ers are making their 20th consecutive (and 21st overall) tournament appearance.
The Long Beach and Pepperdine programs have played 31 times (the series stands at 15-15-1), most recently last season - when the Waves eventually lost to Santa Clara in the third round of the NCAA Tournament - with the 49ers prevailing 3-0 in Malibu.
"Pepperdine is a very good team that is playing very well right now," Gimmillaro said Sunday as the gathering was breaking up.
The Waves, the West Coast Conference runner-up behind No. 16-seed University of San Diego, has won 10 of their past 12 matches.
But it's one of those losses that may give the best indication of how well Coach Nina Matthies' team is playing heading into Friday night's match in the Walter Pyramid.
A week ago, the Waves lost a 3-2 non-conference decision to No. 4 seed UCLA in Westwood.
And that's where Gimmillaro assumed his team was going when a site hosted by USC popped up on the screen and the 49ers weren't in either match.
"I already knew that San Diego wasn't hosting," he explained.
"So when we weren't listed at USC, I told the players, `We're going to be at UCLA again."' But, instead of a third consecutive trip to UCLA for a first-round match, the 49ers got some delightful news.
"No, I wasn't real optimistic (Saturday night, following his team's win over Western Michigan, its 15th victory in the past 16 matches) that we'd be hosting," he said.
"We've been a No. 1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 14 and 16 seed before and were still sent on the road. So this is a nice surprise."
Gimmillaro believes that "Attendance and the least amount of travel possible" were a couple of reasons the Walter Pyramid will be the site of NCAA volleyball action.
"We get good crowds here," he said. "And it would have cost the NCAA a lot more to send three teams to Honolulu than in sending Hawaii here ."
The UH will be the host school in Honolulu for one of the four regional (third- and fourth-round matches) sites.
Other Big West members sending teams to the tournament are conference champion (and No. 15 seed) Cal Poly, which also got to host, and UC Santa Barbara (26 for 26 in tourney appearances), which will face BYU Thursday night in the USC-hosted site in the Galen Center.
Stanford (No. 2), UCLA (4), USC (5), Washington (6), all among the top six seeds, were joined by fellow Pac 10 programs Arizona State, Cal and Oregon.
Women's volleyball: Hosting Tourney for first time since `01
By Frank Burlison, Staff writer
Article Launched:11/27/2006 12:00:00 AM PST
Only seconds before, they had resigned themselves to thinking they were going to be taking a Westwood-bound bus ride on the 405 later this week.
And there was some split-second confusion among the Long Beach State volleyball players early Sunday afternoon when they did see their school's name pop up next to Pepperdine on the television screen as ESPN News was revealing the NCAA Tournament's bracketing and first-round match-ups.
"When I first saw it ," junior middle blocker Alexis Crimes said, "I thought `I'm not reading this right' because I thought I saw `Long Island'."
Then near pandemonium erupted among the gathering of 49ers' players, coaches and boosters in a banquet room at Cirivello's Restaurant and Sports Bar.
"Then I thought `Wait! It is Long Beach!"' the Big West Conference's Co-Player of the Year said, smiling 15 minutes later. "We were ecstatic."
The Long Beach administration submitted a bid to the NCAA recently to play host to one of the 16 first- and second-round sites in the tournament, just as it had every year at this time since it was host during the 2001 tournament.
And, much to the surprise of the Long Beach State players and their coaching staff, the school got that bid from the folks from Indianapolis.
Hooking up in the Friday night first-round matches in the Walter Pyramid will be No. 12 seed Hawaii (26-5) and Oregon (17-11) at 5 p.m. , followed by the 49ers (25-5) and Pepperdine (16-11) at approximately 7 p.m.
The winners will play Saturday at 7 p.m. for the right to advance to regional play in Honolulu the following weekend.
Tickets go on sale at the 49ers' ticket office (562) 985-4949 beginning at 10 a.m. today. All-session tickets are $18 for adults and $12 for students and children.
The 49ers are making their 20th consecutive (and 21st overall) tournament appearance.
The Long Beach and Pepperdine programs have played 31 times (the series stands at 15-15-1), most recently last season - when the Waves eventually lost to Santa Clara in the third round of the NCAA Tournament - with the 49ers prevailing 3-0 in Malibu.
"Pepperdine is a very good team that is playing very well right now," Gimmillaro said Sunday as the gathering was breaking up.
The Waves, the West Coast Conference runner-up behind No. 16-seed University of San Diego, has won 10 of their past 12 matches.
But it's one of those losses that may give the best indication of how well Coach Nina Matthies' team is playing heading into Friday night's match in the Walter Pyramid.
A week ago, the Waves lost a 3-2 non-conference decision to No. 4 seed UCLA in Westwood.
And that's where Gimmillaro assumed his team was going when a site hosted by USC popped up on the screen and the 49ers weren't in either match.
"I already knew that San Diego wasn't hosting," he explained.
"So when we weren't listed at USC, I told the players, `We're going to be at UCLA again."' But, instead of a third consecutive trip to UCLA for a first-round match, the 49ers got some delightful news.
"No, I wasn't real optimistic (Saturday night, following his team's win over Western Michigan, its 15th victory in the past 16 matches) that we'd be hosting," he said.
"We've been a No. 1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 14 and 16 seed before and were still sent on the road. So this is a nice surprise."
Gimmillaro believes that "Attendance and the least amount of travel possible" were a couple of reasons the Walter Pyramid will be the site of NCAA volleyball action.
"We get good crowds here," he said. "And it would have cost the NCAA a lot more to send three teams to Honolulu than in sending Hawaii here ."
The UH will be the host school in Honolulu for one of the four regional (third- and fourth-round matches) sites.
Other Big West members sending teams to the tournament are conference champion (and No. 15 seed) Cal Poly, which also got to host, and UC Santa Barbara (26 for 26 in tourney appearances), which will face BYU Thursday night in the USC-hosted site in the Galen Center.
Stanford (No. 2), UCLA (4), USC (5), Washington (6), all among the top six seeds, were joined by fellow Pac 10 programs Arizona State, Cal and Oregon.
