No Storybook Ending for the 49ers

Long Beach State had talked long and often about feeling comfortable at the NCAA women’s volleyball championships. The 49ers had felt so good that a feeling of invincibility had set in.

But there was Long Beach, facing its first deficit since September. There were the 49ers coming unglued as Stanford began to roll. And ultimately, a perfect season was history.

Stanford derailed Long Beach, 31-29, 30-28, 30-25, a shocking victory Saturday at Cox Arena that earned the Cardinal its fifth national title.

Long Beach (33-1) hadn’t lost a game since Nov. 24, against Brigham Young, and had faced a deficit only once all season.

There was no indication that the 49ers would become rattled. Long Beach had defeated Stanford during the season and had rolled into the final with a three-game semifinal victory Thursday against Arizona.

But facing a Long Beach game point in the first game, Stanford (33-2) tied it, 29-29, on a kill by Logan Tom. A kill attempt by Long Beach’s Lindsay Phillips grazed the net and went wide to give Stanford a game point, and Tom delivered a decisive kill.

It was the first time this season Long Beach had lost the opening game.

“We talked in the huddle at the end of Game 1 about the fact that we didn’t know how they’d react if they lost Game 1 because they hadn’t lost one the whole season,” Stanford Coach John Dunning said. “I think maybe that was motivation for the group, to go out and make sure we got that one.”

Long Beach didn’t react well. Tom, a U.S. Olympian who was named national player of the year Friday, had a match-high 25 kills and Ogonna Nnamani added 19 with the help of effective passing by setter Robyn Lewis.

In contrast, the 49ers were in disarray. They hit a season-low .198 with 19 errors and only 42 kills. Middle blocker Cheryl Weaver had only seven kills as the Cardinal front row took away the 49ers’ signature slide play. Setter Keri Nishimoto had only 34 assists to Lewis’ 56 and the 5-foot-7 senior was left alone too often at the net to block Tom or Nnamani.

“I thought they had a real good game plan,” Long Beach Coach Brian Gimmillaro said. “They didn’t run into our block at all. They set a fast ball outside to both their best players who were attempting to take advantage of our shorter block.

“Also, they set into the weakness of our block and we set into the strength of their block all night long.... They did what they wanted to do and we seemed not to be able to respond.”

While Long Beach argued calls in the second game, Stanford twice built its lead to seven points. Tom had three consecutive kills for a 24-17 lead.

“Sure, we definitely got to the point where we were frustrated,” outside hitter Brittany Hochevar said. “We started trying to do too much and we broke down on our discipline.”

Trailing, 29-23, Long Beach clawed back into the game. Tayyiba Haneef started the rally with a kill and two Stanford errors helped the 49ers. Hochevar blocked Nnamani and teamed with Elisha Thomas to stuff Tom and pull Long Beach within 29-28.

With a chance to extend the game, Nishimoto served out of bounds, giving the Cardinal a two-game lead.

“I would say that 99 times out of a 100, Keri would hit the target,” Gimmillaro said. “We were going after one person that wasn’t passing the ball well.”

Long Beach did rally from a two-games-to-one deficit Sept. 21 against UC Santa Barbara, but had not trailed 2-0.

The teams were tied in the third game, 16-16, but Stanford had an answer for every Long Beach rally. Instead of Long Beach completing its second undefeated season, it was the perfect ending for Dunning and Lewis.

Dunning won in his first season at Stanford after 16 years and two NCAA titles at Pacific.

Lewis, who attended Long Beach Poly High, had battled knee injuries the last four seasons.

“Robyn was working it tonight on the court,” Tom said. “She was giving us lots of good looks at the block when it was there. She makes our job that much easier, especially with Long Beach being such a big, physical team.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

On Top

NCAA women’s volleyball national champions:

YEAR-TEAM: RECORD

1981-USC: 27-10

1982-Hawaii: 33-1

1983-Hawaii: 34-2

1984-UCLA: 33-6

1985-Pacific: 36-3

1986-Pacific: 39-3

1987-Hawaii: 37-2

1988-Texas: 34-5

1989-Long Beach State: 32-5

1990-UCLA: 36-1

1991-UCLA: 31-5

1992-Stanford: 31-2

1993-Long Beach State: 32-2

1994-Stanford: 32-1

1995-Nebraska: 32-1

1996-Stanford: 31-2

1997-Stanford: 33-2

1998-Long Beach State: 36-0

1999-Penn State: 36-1

2000-Nebraska: 34-0

2001-Stanford: 33-2