49ers Defeat Texas, 3-1
Laudato Ties Career High with 22 Digs
August 30, 2003
LONG BEACH, CA--The No. 16 ranked Long Beach State 49ers defeated the No. 23 ranked Texas Longhorns, 3-1, Saturday evening in the Mizuno Invitational at The Pyramid. Game scores were 30-26, 26-30, 30-27, 30-22.
LBSU improves to 2-0 on the young season while the Longhorns fall to 0-2.
Junior Erika Chidester led The Beach with 19 kills and five service aces. Senior transfer Liz Hudson tallied a 49er career-high of 16 kills and 10 digs while hitting .382. Libero Heather Laudato had an outstanding match as she registered 22 digs, a career-best.
Bethany Howden led Texas with 22 kills and Mira Topic added 20, but both Longhorns committed 10 hitting errors. Howden hit .211 on the night and Topic .213. As a team Texas hit .225.
Long Beach State unlocked a 15-15 tie in the first frame behind Melanie Fleig, who served four straight points to push the 49er lead to 19-16. Hudson paced The Beach with seven kills in the frame (7-1-9) for a .667 attack percentage. LBSU collectively hit for a .424 clip (18-4-33), while also registering 12 digs and two service aces. Topic netted five kills in the set for the Longhorns. UT had a 13-9 lead, until Long Beach State went on a 6-2 run to tie the score at 15. LBSU won the game, 30-26.
Freshman Mariko Crum had another strong outing in just her second match as a 49er, recording 10 kills and a career-best six blocks. Fellow freshman middle blocker Natalie Uhart had seven kills and hit an impressive .545 (7-1-11). The Beach hit just .227 on the evening, but recorded 10 service aces and outblocked UT 7.5-7.0.
Texas managed to even the score in the second set with a 30-26 victory, behind Howden's seven kills. Topic also contributed five kills for UT. After a scorching hitting percentage in the first frame, LBSU cooled off in the second, only registering a .109 clip. Hudson remained steady for The Beach with four more kills, to raise her match total to 11. Texas closed out Long Beach State with a 5-1 run, after the score was tied at 25.
The 49ers regained control of the match with a 30-27 game three victory. Hudson continued her hot hitting with four more kills. Chidester added four kills as well. Once again both teams kept the score close and tied often. With the score knotted at 25, LBSU went on a 5-2 run to close out the set. Howden and Topic kept UT in the game with a combined 31 kills thru the third set. Both teams struggled offensively, registering below a .160 hitting percentage, each.
The 49ers had a strong defensive match as four players tallied double digits in digs. Following Laudato's 22, Sara Kroneberger had 12 digs, while Hudson and Jillian Mazzarella each chipped in with 10 digs.
The 49ers are next in action on Monday, Sept. 1 versus Nevada at 2:00 p.m. at The Pyramid. Box Score
Box Score - UTA / UCSB |
