In a battle of the unbeaten, the Long Beach State women’s volleyball team dropped its first loss of the young season as the Oregon Ducks beat the 49ers in a four-game match Wednesday at The Walter Pyramid.
After a sluggish first game loss, 16-30, the 49ers came back to win the next game 30-24, but the Ducks managed to keep their undefeated record intact, winning the next two games 24-30 and 22-30 before 2,009 fans.
“They were a lot better than us,” said 49er head coach Brian Gimmillaro. “We couldn’t do anything right out there.”
In the homecoming game for Oregon Ducks head coach Jim Moore (LBSU, 1980), the 49ers not only lost their first game of the season, but also lost senior opposite Robin Miramontes for at least one match.
Miramontes sprained her ankle during pre-game practice. The severity of the ankle sprain is uncertain, but Gimmillaro said Miramontes will be listed as doubtful for the Huskers Labor Day Tournament, where the 49ers will play Tennessee State on Friday, St. Mary’s on Saturday and No. 1-ranked Nebraska on Sunday.
“I didn’t think Robin was going to be such an impact,” said Gimmillaro. “I thought we had enough depth, but obviously we didn’t. I’m not making excuses. She is our best player.”
Hitting -.056 in the first game and .061 overall, the 49ers missed the play of Miramontes, who last year had 213 kills, 3.18 kills per game and hit .231 in only 67 games played. Miramontes had match highs in attack percentage, posting a .500 percentage (13-2-28) at Michigan last season.
One of the reasons contributing to the match loss was the high volume of errors by the 49ers. They committed 13 errors in the first game, only 6 in the winning effort of the second game, at ten in the third and fourth games for a total of 39 errors.
Junior middle blocker Alexis Crimes tied Mariko Crum for the most errors Wednesday night with a total of 10. Alexis was completely shutdown by the Duck defense, only converting six kills in 27 attempts for a meager -.148 percentage.
“We blocked very well today,” said Moore, who recently added more blocking practices to his regimen. “It is something we had to work on. I’m thrilled not just because we won but because we were able to hang in there.”
Moore believes Miramontes’ key injury that kept her out of the game was one of the main reasons, if not the reason, why the 49er squad did not fair well.
“This is a huge thing. She is a great all-around player. [Her absence] really helped us.”
The 49ers drop to a respectable 3-1 record as the Ducks continue their young, undefeated streak to 3-0.