Dec. 1, 2001
LONG BEACH, Calif. - In all 28 matches that the No. 1 Long Beach State volleyball team has played, the opponent has always walked away with a mark in the loss colum. The Aztecs were no different, with a 3-0 (21-30, 16-30, 24-30) loss to the 49ers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the Pyramid on the Long Beach campus. The loss puts an end to the 2001 season for the spikers with a 16-13 record. The 49ers will advance to the second round with a 7:30 p.m. match against the Univeristy of San Diego tomorrow in the Pyramid. The Toreros advanced in a 3-2 win over UC Santa Barbara in the first round.
Senior Katie Magnuson, in her last match, totaled six kills and eight digs. Junior Rochelle Currier finished the match with six kills and two digs, while sophomores Zlatina Anguelova and Aspen McPartland rounded out the top performers with six kills each. McPartland led the team with six blocks against the Niners.
The Aztecs finished the match with 34 kills, a .132 clip and 10 total team blocks versus Long Beach's 60 kills, .367 clip and six total blocks.The biggest difference was visible on the defensive side of the ball. The Niners dug 62 times to the Aztecs' 34.
QUOTES FROM SAN DIEGO STATE
Mark Warner, San Diego State Head Coach (On the match) "We played a really good team. We tried to battle and we did well in games one and three as far as battling and hanging in there. Their defense did much better than us. They doubled us in total digs and that was a big factor in the match. We couldn't get them in trouble and they got us in trouble. That's why they are the #1 team. We tried to play loose and go as hard as we could and it wasn't good enough. Give them credit"
(On SDSU's turnaround over the last two years) "San Diego State had a good tradition in volleyball. We had a couple of down years and that is a little misleading because we played a difficult schedule. The year we went 5-23, we played 20 ranked teams, but we weren't as bad as that. The last two years have been satisfying because we got a lot better and we'll be better yet, because we still have a young team."
Aspen McPartland, San Diego State Sophomore Middle Blocker (On trying to block Long Beach State) "I thought it was fun. I wanted to go up and block them and it is the best feeling in the world when it happens and everyone gets excited. The blocks would probably carryover for a couple of points. It was a good experience to play against them.
Katie Magnuson, San Diego State Senior Outside Hitter (On playing Long Beach) "We were ready to play them and we knew it was going to be tough. They're 28-0, but it doesn't mean they are unbeatable. Upsets can happen in any sport. Nobody on our team thought we couldn't beat them and if we played our game and we did everything right and they did some things wrong, I know we could have beat this team. As a team we played well and I hope the returners carry this into next year and take this loss and build from it."