Big West Awarded Two Bids For NCAA Volleyball Tournament
The NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Committee announced the 64-team field for the 2009 NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament and Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara each received an invitation to the postseason.
Overall, thirty-one conferences were awarded automatic qualification, and the remaining 33 slots were filled with at-large selections to complete the bracket. The top 16 teams were seeded nationally and placed within four regions. The teams tabbed as the top four seeds were No. 1 Penn State, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Florida State and No. 4 Stanford.
Winning its 10th Big West Conference championship this season awarded LBSU (22-8/12-4) the league's automatic qualifier to the 2009 NCAA Volleyball Tournament for its 23rd consecutive appearance, 24th overall. Only three other teams have participated in 23 or more straight NCAA tournaments - Stanford, Nebraska and Penn State.
The 49ers open the 2009 NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament traveling to Westwood, Calif., to face eighth-seeded UCLA (23-8) at Pauley Pavilion Friday, Dec. 4 at 8:00 p.m. The two teams met earlier this season at the Brea Embassy Suites Titan Classic in Fullerton, Calif., with the 49ers sweeping the Bruins. UCLA, an at-large selection from the Pac-10, leads the overall series 52-21, but Long Beach State has won three of the previous five contests. The winner of the UCLA-Long Beach State match will face either Georgia Tech (21-9) or Baylor (22-9) Saturday, Dec. 5 in second round action.
The Gauchos of UC Santa Barbara received an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament after posting an overall mark of 22-7 and a Big West record of 11-5, tying for second place. The Gauchos drew West Coast Champion Saint Marys (22-4) in first round action. The two teams take to the court in Palo Alto, Calif., Dec. 4 at 5:00 p.m. with the winner advancing to the second round to face the victor of host and fourth-seed Stanford (21-7) and Long Island (21-13) the following night. The Gauchos and Gaels have only met two other times on the volleyball court with each team winning one contest.
Long Beach State Captures 2009 Big West Title
In a winner take all match between UC Irvine and Long Beach State to close out the 2009 Big West season, the 49ers came out on top with a 3-2 victory. The win awarded LBSU its 10th Big West Championship and the leagues NCAA automatic qualifier, sending the 49ers to their 23rd consecutive postseason appearance. Long Beach ends conference play with a 12-4 mark, while UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis are knotted in second with an 11-5 mark.
Washington Records 1,000th Kill
In Long Beach State's final volleyball match of the regular season, Naomi Washington surpassed the 1,000-kill milestone. Her senior-night performance of 22 kills increased her career total to 1,011. Washington still has at least one more contest ahead of her as the 49ers begin NCAA Tournament play this weekend in Westwood, Calif.
Titans Successful in 2009
The Titans upped their record to 18-12 after downing UNLV, 3-2, which tied the school record for wins in a season. Cal State Fullerton also concluded conference play with an 8-8 mark, the second most conference wins in school history.
Quick And To The Point
Long Beach State has seemed like a team on a mission this season, sweeping a league-high 14 opponents this year. UC Davis ranks second in the Big West Conference recording 12 three-set wins, followed by Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine each with 11 sweeps.
Better Than 50-50
The Big West Conference will end the year with six teams with an above .500 overall record - UC Santa Barbara, Long Beach State (.733), (.759), UC Irvine (.733), UC Davis (.667), Pacific (.607) and Cal State Fullerton (.600). The last time that happened was in 2004 when six teams registered an above-.500 overall mark.
Quartet Of 20-Win Seasons
A 3-1 win over UC Davis on Nov. 13 handed UC Santa Barbara its first 20-win season since 2005. UC Santa Barbaras 10 conference victories are the most by the team since winning 12 league games in 2005, the last time UCSB captured the Big West crown.
Also capturing their 20th win of the season were the UC Irvine Anteaters, who tallied a 22-8 mark for the 2009 season. This marks their third 20-win season since competing in the Big West. The previous two years where the 20-win plateau was reached were 2007 (21-11) and 2003 (24-10).
UC Davis, who collected 16 total wins over the past two seasons combined, won its final contest of the 2009 season to improve to 20-10 to secure their first 20-win season since competing at the DI level in the Big West. Davis joined the league back in 2007, but were successful for many years at the DII level. The last time UCD showcased a 20-win season was back in 1996 when the Aggies boasted a 21-6 mark and advanced to the NCAA DII Tournament.
Long Beach State became the fourth team to eclipse the 20-win mark this season after posting a 3-1 record at its annual Thanksgiving tournament to improve to 22-8 overall. The 2009 season is the 22nd 20-win season for the 49ers. This also marks the 16th time four or more teams have tallied a 20-plus wins in the same year.
Pestolesis Double-Doubles
In 30 matches this season, Kari Pestolesi recorded a league-high 22 double-doubles on the season. Her best outing of the year was a 22-kill, 20-dig performance against UC Santa Barbara on Oct. 23.