Women's Volleyball NCAA Tournament

The Long Beach State Women's Volleyball Team has an exciting week ahead: this Friday, the 49ers, led by 1st-Team All-Big West honorees Haleigh Hampton, Caitlin Ledoux, and Ashley Lee, will face off against #18-ranked University of San Diego in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament at the Galen Center.

Did you know that this is the 24th consecutive year Long Beach State is competing in the tournament? The 49ers are one of only four schools to achieve this amazing feat.

The team has enjoyed a successful season, with Head Coach Brian Gimmillaro becoming only the eighth Division I coach to ever reach 700 career wins. Just this past weekend, the 49ers took three consecutive wins in the Mizuno Thanksgiving Tournament against Notre Dame, Akron, and Seattle University at the Walter Pyramid.

Although the Toreros won a match against the Long Beach State team in early September, the 49ers have have had an incredible season, winning 14 of their last 16 matches.

Long Beach State (25-7) will face off San Diego (23-5) at 5:00 PM this Friday, December 3 at the Galen Center (USC Campus). All Long Beach State students will receive free admission to this match. Just present a valid school I.D. at the Galen Center Box Office on game day to redeem their free ticket. For all other ticket needs, please call (213) 740-4672.

Great Year for Former Dirtbags

The 2010 baseball awards and accolades have been announced, and it was an impressive year for some Dirtbag Alums.

Evan Longoria and the Rays made it to the American League divisional round, where they fell to eventual AL champs the Texas Rangers. Longoria made it to the All Star game in Anaheim this summer, and his regular season performance at third base earned him his second Rawlings' Gold Glove- the award given to the best defensive player at each position in each league.

Troy Tulowitzki's club, the Colorado Rockies, didn't make the postseason, but Tulo was honored with multiple awards. Troy started out his season with a trip to the mid-summer's classic as well. Tulo not only won his first Gold Glove, but also took home his first Silver Slugger (awarded to the best hitting player at each position).

Jered Weaver, the Angels' ace was also elected to the All Star game this past season. Weaver was also the strike out king lead the league for the first time in his career.

Congratulations to these former Dirtbags as they continue to make LBSU proud!

Welcome to Paradise

After a pair of home games to open the season, the Long Beach State men's basketball team will kick off their road schedule in Paradise, as they arrive in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands to participate in the 2010 Paradise Jam tournament.

The tournament field includes Clemson, Xavier, and Old Dominion, all NCAA tournament participants last year, as well as Alabama, Iowa, Seton Hall and St. Peters.

For the second year in a row, the 49ers will face off with Clemson , who LBSU battled in the second round of last year's 76 Classic, ultimatley losing to the Tigers 87-79 in a hotly contested match. Long Beach State's rematch against Clemson is slated for Friday at 12:30 p.m. PDT.

Fans not able to make their way to St. Thomas can still check out all the hoops action online and on TV. Come down to The Beach Club on Friday at 12:30 p.m. for a live streaming of Long Beach State's opening round game against Clemson.

The rest of LBSU's games will be determined based on whether they win or lose throughout the tournament, but in any case, the 49ers will play three games over the four day trip. Click here for a complete Paradise Jam tournament bracket with all possible scenarios.

For a complete broadcast schedule and info about streaming all of the Paradise Jam games head to the official Paradise Jam website.

LBSU Pyramid 5K Run

Runners took over the LBSU Campus Sunday November 7th for the Pyramid 5K Run, kicking off the Homecoming Weekend.

Over 200 runners raced the scenic 5K course that wound through different parts of the campus. With a challenging climb at mile 1 and a rewarding downhill towards the finish, it was a fun race for runners to run their hearts out. Carly Harris was the top women's finisher at a lightning fast 17:06, and the top men's finisher was Jake Ainsworth with a great time of 15:14.

60 kids also participated in the Kid's Mile Run, and it was great to see the smiles on the faces of all the future running champions.

With a fun awards ceremony and tons of yummy post-run food, the race was a big success!

Check out the video for all the excitement!

Weekend Recap: (11/11-11/14)

With so many Long Beach State teams in action over the weekend, it may have been hard to keep up with all the scores, game stories, media links, photo galleries and highlight videos, but that's what we are here for!

Nov. 11
The women's volleyball team got the weekend started early for Long Beach State with a home sweep of Cal State Northridge. Caitlin Ledoux led the 49ers with 16 kills while hitting .371. A combination of a strong offense, and a defense that held the Matadors to a .039 hitting percentage allowed the 49ers to easily cruise to their fourth straight victory.

Photo courtesy of Daily 49er

Nov. 12
After beating UCI to clinch the Big West tourney title, the Long Beach State women's soccer team headed to Palo Alto, Calif. to take on Santa Clara in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Though LBSU out shot the Broncos 22-5 in the match and dominated time of possession, Santa Clara forward Bridgett Miller was able to slip a shot past Emily Kingsborough in the 84th minute to give Santa Clara the 1-0 victory and end the 49ers' season.

In depth women's soccer recap by Daily 49er
Photo gallery from Palo Alto by Daily 49er

Back in action on Friday night was the women's volleyball team, who made quick work of UC Riverside, winning in straight sets for the second consecutive night ending their regular season home schedule on a high note. The 49ers were led by Janisa Johnson, who tallied 19 digs.

Nov. 13
Both the men's and women's hoops teams took the court for the first time on Saturday, though on opposite ends of the West Coast.

The women's team faced off with Pac-10 foe Oregon State in Corvalis, Ore. and suffered a 71-39 setback. Ashley Bookman scored a career high 12 points to lead The Beach.

Photo courtesy of Press Telegram

Back at the Pyramid, men's hoops welcomed the No. 25 San Diego State Aztecs, the first ranked team to venture in to Long Beach since 2004. A record 5,143 people were in attendance at the game, the largest crowd ever to watch a sporting event at the Pyramid.

The game was a back and forth affair throughout the first half, featuring runs by both teams including a 7-0 spurt by the 49ers capped off by a transition dunk by T.J. Robinson, assisted by Casper Ware to end the half tied at 42.

But as the game wore on, fatigue began to set in for the 49ers, and the Aztecs took control of the game with a 15-3 run to close out the game over the last 5:48.

T.J. Robinson led the 49ers with 19 points and 9 rebounds, while Casper Ware shot 50 percent from the field chipping in 15 points and dishing out 4 assists. Greg Plater notched 10 points.

Check out the following media links for much more from the game:
Press Telegram game recap by Frank Burlison
Press Telegram photo gallery
Daily 49er recap by Steve Lyons

Big West Athlete of the Week: Caitlin Ledoux

Caitlin Ledoux led LBSU to two key victories over the weekend, averaging 4.22 kills and 2.44 digs per set while hitting .21 and along the way earned Big West Player of the Week honors.

Check out her Thanksgiving themed Athlete of the Week video below.

Big Week For Cross Country Athletes

Last week the cross country team took home three big honors as they took home three Big West Cross Country Athlete of the Week awards in 2 weeks.

Raul Arcos and Kelly Caufield were named Big West Cross Country Athletes of the Week (10-27-10) for their performances at the Titan Invitational in Fullerton. Arcos posted a personal best 24:54 in the 8,000 meter-race. Caufield also posted a personal best of 18:46.2 for the 5,000 meter-race.

The week before, Rosa Del Toro was named Big West Cross Country Athlete of the Week (10-20-10) for her run at the Bronco Invitation in Sunnydale. Del Toro also competed in a 5,000 meter-race as she posted her own personal best of 17:16.6.

Watch to see the impressive trio interview each other:

This week LBSU named Cross Country star Matt Maldonado Athlete of the Week for his fourth place finish in the Big West Championships. In addition to being an impressive athlete, Maldonado also balances his school work and has been awarded multiple accolades for his successes on the field and in the classroom.

Watch him discuss his pre-race rituals here:

49er soccer set for Big West Tourney match with CSUN

Despite a 1-0 loss in the final game of the regular season, LBSU has locked up the No. 2 seed in the Big West Tournament and will host No. 3 seeded Cal State Northridge this Thursday at George Allen Field at 3 p.m.

The semifinal match between the 49ers and Matadors comes just 11 days after LBSU was able to beat CSUN 2-1 on senior day at Long Beach State. In that match, Bo Rael and Lindsay Bullock both netted goals for the 49ers and Emily Kingsborough had another superb afternoon in goal.

LBSU finishes the regular season with a mark of 12-5-2, posting a double digit win total and making it to the Big West Tournament for the fifth time in six years.

The other semi-final matchup will be between No. 1 seed UC Irvine and No. 4 seed Pacific.

The winners of the two semi-final games will battle on Sunday, Nov. 7 at the higher seed's home field for an automatic birth to the NCAA tournament.