Long Beach State Routs Montana in Volleyball

Determined and confident, Montana quickly encountered women’s volleyball West Coast-style.

Defending national champion Long Beach State overwhelmed Montana, 15-10, 15-6, 15-8, Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Northwest Region tournament in front of 1,757 at The Pyramid.

“This was a little bit of a different level of play for them,” Long Beach Coach Brian Gimmillaro said. “We play a little faster and a little higher than they do.”

Junior outside hitter Brita Schwerm led the 49ers (26-5) with a match-high 17 kills. Senior middle blocker Traci Dahl had 12 kills and seven total blocks.

Nichelle Burton--the 49ers’ All-American senior outside hitter and Big West Conference player of the year--also played well despite being slowed by a sprained right ankle. She contributed 11 kills and 13 digs. Sophomore Heather Hofmans, the starting setter, had 35 assists.

“I was really, really proud of how Heather and Brita added to the match,” Gimmillaro said. “Nichelle probably shouldn’t have played, so it was really necessary for us to get some help. We got the help from Brita and Heather, and Traci played her normal excellent match.”

Even Montana left impressed.

“No doubt about it--we went against a very good team,” said Montana Coach Dick Scott, whose Grizzlies finished 25-6. “We have some extremely good athletes, but they had a little bit more size on us and like athletic ability.

“The Big West and (Pacific 10) compete against tough teams all the time. In conference, we have teams that we really can walk through and that hurts us sometimes. (Long Beach has) to compete hard every match.”

Long Beach, ranked seventh in the nation and seeded second in the region, will play host to the regional semifinals and final Friday and Saturday at the Gold Mine gym on campus. The four-time defending Big West champion, Long Beach will play either Idaho or Hawaii at 8 p.m. Friday.

Still, this was the best post-season run in the Grizzlies’ history.

Making its third tournament appearance, Montana won Wednesday in the opening round at home. It defeated Arkansas State, 14-16, 15-10, 15-9, 17-15. Montana, which entered the tournament ranked No. 23, is co-champion of the Big Sky.

“You want to go against the best to see where you are,” said Scott, who recently completed his 17th season in Missoula. “We felt very excited about getting selected and hosting the first round, winning that and coming to the next round against the defending national champions. What could be better?”

Well, winning would be one guess.

Montana started quickly, taking a 6-1 lead in the opening game on a kill by senior middle blocker Heidi Williams, who had 12 kills. Then the 49ers took over.

Frustrated, Gimmillaro called for a timeout and encouraged his charges to start playing in earnest or at least wake up. They listened and scored seven of the next nine points to tie the score at 8-8 on Dahl’s kill.

“You have to play determined and relaxed, and it’s very difficult for young people to do both,” Gimmillaro said. “Either we’re too relaxed or we’re hyped. But we’re working on it. I knew we’d be OK if we continued to concentrate on what we do.”

Montana scored only twice more in the first game. A kill by Burton completed Long Beach’s rally.

“We have such high expectations coming into this tournament,” Schwerm said. “I think anytime you have goals it’s understandable to have nerves.

“We got a little overanxious, a little nervous, and I think once we got that out of our system we played a little more comfortably.”