September was just three months ago, but for Long Beach State women’s volleyball fans, it must seem like years.  It was, nonetheless, just a few flips of the calendar ago that the 49ers dominated the UCLA Bruins, in a match that had very few things in common with last night’s first-round NCAA tilt, as UCLA swept LBSU out of the first round, 25-20, 25-20, 25-16.

The 49ers were outhit .290 to .178, and didn’t crack 20% in either of the last two sets, and looked completely flustered.  This has been a team that has tended to play very high or very low this season, and they looked very low on Friday—as low as they looked high in their first meeting against the Bruins.  After the match, all the questions centered around what changed between meetings.

Andy Banachowski, UCLA’s coach, admitted that, “We felt we had a score to settle with them, which helped—it motivated us during the week.”  He also noted the superior serving of his team, which notched eight aces, but more importantly crossed up the 49ers’ offense.  “It made them more predictable,” he said.  “Theirs is a very intricate offense, and when you can’t pass as well it’s harder to run it.”

49ers coach Brian Gimmillaro disagreed, saying, “The team was prepared—there were no surprises.  Their hitting was the same, the serving was the same, the defense was the same—we got rattled.”  He said he thought the team was overanxious, and wanted to be so successful that they lost discipline.

In each set, there was a tight battle to fifteen or so—it was 15-14 UCLA in the first, 15-15 in the second, and 15-14 Bruins in the third.  But as the 49ers got jumpy and failed to take advantage of UCLA mistakes, the Bruins closed with runs of 10-6, 10-5, and 10-2.  Any number of things can be pointed to as signs of their struggles, but the passing definitely wasn’t there, as setter Ashley Lee had just 24 assists.

No 49er finished in double-digit kills; outgoing senior Naomi Washington close a stellar career with nine, backed by Caitlin Ledoux with eight kills on 26 swings (no player with double-digit swing hit over .200).  The good news for the team is that they’ll return all but Washington and Brittney Herzog, as they try to rebound from a disappointing performance on Friday.