May Drives Long Beach State Past Santa Barbara to Title

Setter Misty May of No. 1 Long Beach State, named the most valuable player at the Big West Conference women’s volleyball tournament Sunday, agreed with 49er Coach Brian Gimmillaro on how tough it is to beat another top-10 team three times in a season.

“It’s real difficult,” said May, formerly of Newport Harbor High, after the 49ers disposed of sixth-ranked UC Santa Barbara, 15-7, 15-9, 15-13, in the tournament final in front of 2,021 at the Pyramid Sunday night.

“We could have easily come out not ready to play and just think they were going to roll over.”

Long Beach (27-1), led by 17 kills and 14 digs from all-tournament outside hitter Jenn Snyder and 45 assists by May, put this one away rather quickly after two marathon events earlier this season. The 49ers squeaked by in five games in Goleta and four at home. The victory marked the second time in the last two seasons that the 49ers have swept Santa Barbara; it gave Long Beach an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament.

Santa Barbara was extended to four games Friday against Utah State and five games Saturday in a victory over Pacific. But Long Beach’s power game was too much to handle Sunday.

“Last night affected our middles,” Santa Barbara Coach Kathy Gregory said. “It didn’t affect our quickness and passing, but that [Pacific] game did affect our hitting tonight. Obviously we were not strong.” Former Mater Dei standout Roberta Gehlke, an all-tournament selection for UC Santa Barbara, led both teams with 23 kills, but the Gauchos (28-4) hit only .136, 200 points below the 49ers.

Gregory tried to get some fresh players on the court. She started middle blocker Hilary Gunsaulus over former Orange High outside hitter Charlene Conley in the first game. But the 49ers marched to a 5-1 lead and then scored four of the final five points on Santa Barbara attack errors.

The Gauchos rallied from a 7-3 deficit and caught the 49ers, 9-9, on a kill by Gehlke in the second game. But Long Beach scored the final six points, including a difficult kill by May from midcourt with her body falling away from the net that made it 12-9. Long Beach got the final three points on attack errors.

In the third game, Gehlke blocked Benishe Dillard and Santa Barbara led, 7-3. Two Gehlke kills made it 10-5. But the 49ers chipped away in a side-out battle. Dillard’s roller over the net dropped untouched for a 14-13 lead and Nique Crump ended the match by scoring off a block attempt by Katie Crawford.