For the first time this season, all Long Beach State athletic teams will be away from home.
The week is headlined by the women’s volleyball team as they take on UC Davis to open Big West conference play tonight at 7 in Davis.
After an inauspicious start, the 49ers (6-7) take on the Aggies (7-6), an opponent as LBSU has never lost to in 23 contests.
LBSU is looking to bounce back from last weekend when the team went 1-2, dropping games to University of San Diego and San Diego State at the USD/SDSU Invitational.
The losses were a combination of mistakes and miscues that compiled to make things hard for the team.
“We do some really good play and we do something really good things, better than most teams can do,” head coach Brian Gimmillaro said. “Then we make mistakes that cause our team to lose focus because the negative seems to snowball. Our good things our really good, but our negative things are dragging us down.”
After their trip up north, the 49ers will head to UC Irvine to take on the Anteaters Saturday at 7 p.m.
“Hopefully we continue to improve and minimize the mistakes,” Gimmillaro said.
Women’s Soccer
After a promising 3-1 start, the women’s soccer team has lost four out of five games.
LBSU (4-4-1) will look to right the ship when they head to Provo, Utah to face Brigham Young University in the team’s last non-conference game.
The team suffered a big blow when senior goalkeeper Ashton McKeown went down with a shoulder injury on Sept. 2, before the team lost to Loyola Marymount, 2-1.
After the injury, sophomore Imani McDonald was thrown into the starting role against the Lions and had the tall task of being in goal again when the team took on Penn State the defending NCAA champion.
The 49ers are leaning on junior Ashley Gonzales, who leads the team with five goals and two assists.
Men’s Water Polo
The men’s water polo team (6-1) is looking to get its season back on track after a double overtime loss to UCLA Saturday.
The team battled back in the last four minutes of the fourth period, scoring three goals to send the game into overtime.
Head coach Gavin Arroyo is pleased with the team’s progression and thinks the team will be ready for another tough weekend on the road when they travel to Berkeley for the Mountain Pacific Invitational.
The team will start off the tournament against UC Davis (7-2) on Friday.
“I think we want to use every experience we have to get better,” Arroyo said. “With every new competition there’s different components they bring.”
Arroyo said that UCD is a tough team and the game will be difficult to play on the road.
“Hopefully this weekend makes us better,” Arroyo said.
Women’s Tennis
The Long Beach State women’s tennis team is heading to Las Vegas to compete in the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Tournament.
The tournament will kick off the season for the 49ers. They look to start a new streak after not making the Big West Tournament championship for the first time since 2000 last season.
