LBSU 49ers atop their game by defeating UC Santa Barbara
The Long Beach State 49ers men's volleyball team is currently atop of their game. Their superior performance has driven them to phenomenal victories at the start of the 2011 volleyball season.
First in line for them was the number two ranking UC Irvine, who turned out to be an easy push for them. After they had tackled with the Irvines, they made for the Pepperdines. The LBSU 49ers were also able to defeat the number
three ranking Pepperdines. Oozing with confidence and in prime form, the 49ers were able to make a clean sweep over UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday at the Walter Pyramid. At the end of the match, the score stood at 25-18, 25-12, 25-22.
Long Beach State achieved these victories while playing in the season opener, Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men’s volleyball matches.
Andy Read, who is the coach for the 49ers is satisfied with his team and is not worried about the rankings. In response to a question about the rankings, Read made the following comments, “No, I don’t think so. I know I never look
at the rankings, I don’t think [the players] do either.” The 49ers are currently ranked at number eight in the USA.
In the eyes of Read, 49ers are one of the nation’s top teams, if not the very best. The defeat that they suffered at the hands of the number one Trojans was not a result of inferior capabilities, but it was lack of diligence on
part of the coach, as Read himself admits.
The 49ers were given some time off from practice after they won the match against the Pepperdines in the conference play matches. Instead, Read confesses, they should have been practicing full on for the match against University
of Southern California.
However, Long Beach State learnt its lesson and came into the match against number five ranked Santa Barbara with their sleeves rolled up.
The 49ers out-performed Santa Barbara with great class. Overall, the hitting percentage of Santa Barbara was recorded at .442. Long Beach’s defence remained incomparable and they gave the opposing team a hard time in putting up
an effective defense. Three of the 49ers were able to make swings in the double digit figures.
Prominent among the Long Beach State players were Jim Baughman, Antwain Aguillard and Ryan Meeham. Baughman was able to make 13 kills whereas Aguillard recorded six of them. Meeham on the other hand posted five kills in the entire
match. What was commendable in their attacking performance was the fact that these kills were achieved in relatively less number of swings.
Next in line for the 49ers is a match with number three ranking UCLA, which is to be played on Friday.
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