Big West Tournament: Women's Soccer

Long Beach State Women's Soccer will look to defend it's Big West Championship starting Thursday, November 3rd against No. 3 Cal State Northridge. Your 49ers will host the Matadors as the second seed in the Big West, and the semifinal game is set to start 2:00PM at George Allen Field.

If the women's soccer team prevails against Cal State Northridge, Your 49ers will play against either No. 1 UC Irvine or No. 4 UC Davis Sunday, November 6th. If UC Irvine wins, Long Beach State will travel to Irvine on Sunday November to play for the Big West Championship. However, if UC Davis wins, Long Beach State will host at home on Sunday to play for the title.

Along with clinching Big West Tournament berth, junior Nadia Link was named Big West Offensive Player of the Week with her spectacular performance this past weekend. It is her second weekly honor this season, and the third of her career at Long Beach State. On the week, Link led Your 49ers in goals (2), assists (3), point (7), and shot attempts (9). She leads the Big West in goals (14), assists (10) and points (38), and ranks among the top three in the LBSU single-season record books in each of those categories. Nadia is the third 49er in school history, and the first since the program was reinstated in 1998, to register double figures in both goals and assists. Link has played a pivotal role this season in helping Long Beach State proceed into post-season play.

Your 49ers return to George Allen Field this Thursday at 2:00PM against Cal State Northridge in the semifinal of the Big West Conference Championship. For more information please visit LongBeachState.com and follow us on Facebook.com/LBSUAthletics for up-to-date information. GO BEACH!

Big West Athlete of the Week: Haleigh Hampton

Women's Volleyball Haleigh Hampton receives Big West Athlete of the Week for the second time this season. The sophomore middle blocker led Your 49ers this past weekend with two victories on the road against Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara. The team now holds a 8-2 record in the Big West Conference and continues to lead the conference standings.

Hampton led the 49ers in kills, in the game against Cal Poly Hampton tallied a season's best 20 kills, just one shy of her career record of 21. At UC Santa Barbara Hampton had 19 kills, and led the team to a four-set win over the Gauchos. She also leads the conference in blocking, and is among the leaders for both hitting percentage and kills per set in conference matches.

Your 49ers return to the Walter Pyramid this weekend to host UC Riverside on Friday and Cal State Northridge on Saturday. UC Riverside was the last team in the Big West to defeat Your 49ers, and the women's volleyball team will be looking to secure the win at home.

First serve is set to go off at 7PM, GO BEACH!

LBSU Men's Basketball Receives Preseason Acclaim

LBSU Men's Basketball is picked as the favorite to win the Big West Title this 2011-2012 season. Along with Big West recognition, the 49ers also received two points in the ESPN/USA Today Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll. Three players were also chosen on the six-man Preseason Media Big West All-American Conference Team.

Your 49ers received 20 out of 24 first-place votes and finished with 212 points in the preseason conference poll. Reigning Big West Conference Player of the Year, Casper Ware earned a spot on the preseason all-league team as well as Larry Anderson and T.J. Robinson. The men's basketball team completed last season with a 14-2 record in the Big West, and returns four key starters - Casper Ware, T.J. Robinson, Larry Anderson, and Eugene Phelps. 

Among other preseason accolades, Senior Casper Ware is one of 50 other basketball student-athletes in Division I to be awarded the John R. Wooden Preseason Top 50 Award, the preseason watch list for the national player of the year award. 

The LBSU Men's Basketball team will face a tough schedule early in the season, facing five teams ranked in the preseason by the coaches poll. Non-conference games include No. 1 North Carolina (Dec. 10), No. 8 Louisville (Nov. 28), No. 11 Pittsburgh (Nov. 16), No. 13 Kansas (Dec. 6), and No. 15 Xavier (Dec. 22). 

Homecoming is set on November 12, 2011 at the Walter Pyramid against Boise State at 2:05PM. For more information please visit LongBeachState.com.

Hard Work Wins Championships

Check out this video made by the LBSU Throws Squad of 2012.

Go Beach!

Big West Athlete of the Week: Rosa Del Toro (10/18/2011)

Women's Cross Country Rosa Del Toro receives the Big West Athlete of the week for the second time this season. Del Toro led the way for Your 49ers this past weekend at the Bronco Invitational at Baylands Regional Park in Sunnyvale hosted by Santa Clara University. Del Toro recorded a new school record and a personal-best in the 5,000 meters by five seconds with a mark of 17:09.8, which helped lead the LBSU women's cross country team to defend their title at the Bronco Invitational. The 49ers compiled 94 points to beat out second-place Portland (100 points) and Idaho State (116 points) in third. 

With the win, LBSU has entered the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Women's West Region poll as No. 9. For more information about the USTFCCCA Rankings visit longbeachstate.com.


Del Toro also received LBSU Student-Athlete of the week for her endeavors. The 49ers return to action October 21 traveling to Cal State Fullerton for the Titan Invitational. 

'Niners in the News

Check out ESPNLA's feature on Junior Nadia Link's incredible journey back to college soccer! 

Check out the LA Time's feature on senior point guard Casper Ware and his preseason nod for the Wooden Award!

Check out Bob Keiser's piece in the Press Telegram about senior Caitlin Le doux's return to the court!

Big West Athlete of the Week: Kaitlyn Gustaves

Senior goalkeeper Kaitlyn Gustaves has earned the Big West Women's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week. This is the first weekly honor for Gustaves and the second for Long Beach State women's soccer this season as Nadia Link was awarded the Big West Women's Soccer Offensive Player of the week on Sept. 5.

Gustaves had a strong outing on Sunday in a 2-1 overtime victory against Cal State Fullerton. After the Titans scored in the 28th minute, Gustaves did not allow another goal, which allowed senior Nicole Hubbard to score the equalizer with 14 seconds left in regulation. Senior Nadia Link would go onto the score the game winning goal four minutes into overtime. Gustaves compiled a career-high nine saves, 4 in the first half and 5 in the second, while facing 13 shots in total.

Your 49ers remain undefeated in Big West Conference play, with a solid effort from Gustaves playing every minute in goal this season. This season Gustaves has compiled 44 saves, five shutouts, and a 0.91 goals on average. Her goals against average, shutout total and minutes played, all rank among the top 10 in the 49er single-season record books.

Women's soccer hits the road this weekend at Cal State Northridge on the 14th and UC Irvine on the 16th.

Big West Athlete of the Week: Haleigh Hampton

Sophomore Haleigh Hamption was the first to pick up the women's volleyball team's weekly Big West honor this year. It was announced by the conference on Monday for the week ending on October 9th.
 
Playing Tuesday October 4th at UC Irvine, Hampton had nine kills on .500 hitting while leading the 49ers to a 3-0 sweep on the road against the Anteaters. Your 49ers marked an impressive error-free performance at UCI, and Hampton earned the award in the wake of her second double-double of the year against Cal State Fullerton later that week on Saturday. Against the defending Big West Champions, Hampton made 13 kills on .417 hitting, and also held an impressive 10 blocks - 3 solo and 7 block assists. With Haleigh Hampton's solid performance on the offensive and defensive sides, the 49ers defeated the Titans in four sets.

Hampton's award as the Big West Player of the Week honor is the first for Long Beach State in the 2011 season. It's also the first career Player of the Week award for Hampton as well.

Women's Volleyball will continue Big West Conference play this weekend against UC Davis on the 14th and the University of Pacific on the 15th. First serve at 7PM at The Walter Pyramid.

49er Fall Sports Update

WOMEN’S SOCCER

Women’s soccer captured a national ranking at No. 23 in the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of American poll, which was released October 4. The 49ers also hold the No. 3 slot in the West Region, behind Pepperdine and Santa Clara. This weekend Long Beach State will play their first Big West Conference game against the Cal State Fullerton Titans at George Allen Field Sunday, October 9 at 3:00PM.

In other news, senior Nadia Link is among 24 collegiate and young professional players who will be evaluated by U.S. Women's National Team head coach Pia Sundhage for possible call-ups to training camps heading into the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Vancouver in January. She received a late invitation to train with the U.S. U-23 Women's National Team, Oct. 2-7, at the Home Depot Center in Carson.

MEN’S WATER POLO

Men’s Water Polo will begin Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) on Thursday, October 6, 2011 at 5:00PM against the University of Southern California. The Trojans are currently ranked as first in the MPSF, the 49ers are currently ranked thirteenth, so this will be a good indication where the 49ers will shape up against the rest of the conference this upcoming season. Men’s water polo currently holds a 11-3 record, and it is the best start since 2007. Action for men’s water polo will continue Saturday, October 8, 2011 against the California Golden Bears at the campus pool. Game time is set to start at 2:00PM.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

Women’s tennis had a strong representation at the ITA All-American Tournament this past weekend at the Riviera Tennis Club. This tournament is invitation only, where all the best players in Division I compete. Anais Dallara who plays number one for the women’s team received an invitation to the pre-qualifying round of the tournament. Dallara's run through pre-qualifying and qualifying ended as the senior fell 6-3, 6-3 to #42 Marianne Jodoin of Fresno State in the Round of 64 in qualifying. Dallara continues the tournament this week through the backdraw.

The women’s tennis team also showed great success at the UNLV Fall Invitation two weeks ago. Anna Jeczmionka finished with a victory of Ginet Pinero of New Mexico State, taking the flight two singles title with a 6-1, 6-3 win on Sunday, finishing the first weekend 3-0 in singles action. Also winning their flight in doubles, Sarah Cantlay and Rachel Manasse beat Pavlovic/de Lanleay of UNLV by an 8-2 margin to earn Long Beach State's second main draw victory of the day. This weekend the team will travel to Fullerton to compete in the Fullerton Invitational. With a solid showing at the UNLV Fall Coach Jenny Hilt-Costello hopes to continue to build on the momentum with her players.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

With a tough start in Big West play, the women’s volleyball team looks to reestablish their Big West presence after a 3-0 shutout against the UCI Anteaters this past Tuesday. They take on the Cal State Fullerton Titans at the Walter Pyramid Saturday, October 8, 2011. With senior captain and key player Caitlin Ledoux still out with an injury, the rest of the team is looking to step up and rise to the occasion. A relatively young team has been led by Sophomore Haleigh Hampton, she registered nine kills with no errors on .500 hitting to lead the 49ers to victory against UCI on Tuesday. Women’s volleyball returns to Long Beach this weekend and first serve is set at 7:00PM Saturday, October 8, 2011.

For more information about Your 49ers please visit www.LongBeachState.com. Also please visit our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/LBSUathletics) and follow us on Twitter (www.twitter.com/LBSUAthletics). GO BEACH!