Long Beach State Nearly Perfect in Opener

Top-ranked Long Beach State needed only 49 minutes Thursday night to defeat Southern, 15-0, 15-0, 15-0, at Long Beach in the opening round of the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament.

It was the first time in NCAA tournament history that a team did not surrender a point.

The 49ers (31-0) will play Arizona (22-6) in a second-round match tonight at 7:30 at the Pyramid. Arizona defeated Fresno State, 16-14, 15-9, 15-11.

Long Beach’s .615 hitting percentage was a school record, eclipsing the previous record of .600, which was set against Brigham Young on Sept. 1, 1989. The 49ers made only one hitting error in 39 attempts.

Long Beach also had 15 service aces against a team that finished with a 19-13 record after making its NCAA tournament debut.

“I’m glad the NCAA tournament expanded to allow the Southwestern Athletic Conference to be in the field of 64,” Long Beach Coach Brian Gimmillaro said. “I hope it was a good experience for them to come out here and play.”

Meanwhile, at East Lansing, Mich., Pepperdine upset 14th-ranked Michigan State, 15-13, 13-15, 15-12, 13-15, 15-8, for its first NCAA tournament victory.

The Waves, winless in their previous 11 trips to the NCAA tournament, improved to 18-10 going into tonight’s match against North Carolina (29-7), a first-round winner over Oral Roberts.

Lindsay Phillips, the West Coast Conference freshman of the year, led Pepperdine with 20 kills. Senior Anna Witkowski had 19.

“I am very, very proud of my team, to come in and win in such a hostile environment as Jenison Field House,” Pepperdine Coach Nina Matthies said.