Long Beach State head coach Brian Gimmillaro went straight to the point when describing the state of his team following its loss to No. 2 Texas.
“We have to get better,” Gimmillaro said.
The 49ers, currently staring at an 0-2 record, began the season at No. 23 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, but have since dropped out of the national Top-25 after falling to No. 15 San Diego and Texas.
LBSU will attempt to record its first win of the season Friday at the Walter Pyramid when it begins the first day of action in a tournament co-hosted with UC Irvine. The 49ers and Anteaters will not face each other.
The Beach hosts the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (1-1) Friday at 1 p.m. in the first of three 49er matches to be played over a span of two days.
The team returns to action later that evening against Indiana State at 7 p.m. The Sycamores (1-3) play UMBC in a neutral-site match scheduled for 4 p.m. that will precede their clash with the 49ers.
A Saturday match against Northeastern, slated for 7 p.m., rounds out the week of action for the 49ers. The Huskies (3-0) opened the season with victories over Long Island, UMBC and Rhode Island. The team includes libero Jessica LaScola, who was on the LBSU roster last season.
The ‘Niners hit .134 as a team in a four-set defeat against the Toreros, and stole the first two sets from the Longhorns before falling in five.
“We were all bummed out that we lost [to Texas],” setter Ashley Lee said about the near-upset. “We played a hard match and earned the points without having them give it to us. I wish we could have won.”
None of the three opponents are expected to offer the same challenge that the Toreros and Longhorns provided, but Gimmillaro isn’t taking his opponents lightly. Not after a first weekend of action that saw UCI upset then-No. 6 California and previous-No. 5 Stanford fall to an unranked Notre Dame squad.
“Teams that are not good right now could be great in a couple of weeks,” Gimmillaro said.
Lee expects the team to come out with the same mentality it displayed in the Texas match.
“We have to go in thinking everybody we’re playing is No. 2,” she said. “We always have more room to improve. We have to think we’re never too good for anything.”
Saturday’s match will be the 49ers’ last at the Pyramid until they return to host UC Santa Barbara (Oct. 2) in Big West Conference play.