Long Beach State University Athletics
49ers Defeat Waves in Three
12/1/2006 12:00:00 AM | General
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49ers Take Pepperdine in Four LONG BEACH, CA— Junior Alexis Crimes had 16 kills and Mischa Hasilakova and Quincy Verdin added 11 each to lead Long Beach State (26-5) to a 30-22, 30-27, 25-30, 30-26 win over Pepperdine (16-12) in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament on Friday at The Walter Pyramid. Long Beach State will meet Hawai’i in Saturday’s second round at 7:00 p.m. Junior Talaya Whitfield had 18 digs for LBSU while Hasilakova led the 49ers with eight blocks and hit .364 (11-3-22). Sophomore Nicole Vargas posted 44 assists as Long Beach State hit .227 (56-24-141) as a team. Pepperdine received a match-high 17 kills from sophomore Julie Rubenstein. The Waves hit at a .174 (59-33-149) clip. The two teams staged a back-and-forth affair in the early part of game one, but Long Beach State got hot toward the end to win going away, 30-22. Pepperdine opened up a 13-10 lead, but Long Beach State stormed back with four consecutive points to go up by one, 14-13. Pepperdine tied the match at 14-14 on a kill by Rubenstein, but Crimes responded with a kill of her own to give the 49ers the lead back for good. From that point, the 49ers outscored the Waves 12-4 and led 27-18 after a Pepperdine attack error. Crimes, who had three kills in the frame, pounded a shot to close out the Waves 30-22 for the game one win. Long Beach swung at a .280 (11-4-25) clip and was led by Verdin with four putaways. Pepperdine managed to hit just .051 (14-12-39). The 49ers also enjoyed a 7.0-1.0 advantage in blocks. Long Beach came out on fire in game two and quickly opened up a 13-6 lead. However, Pepperdine scored 10 of the next 13 points to knot the game at 16-16. The two teams traded points and the score was tied for one last time at 25-25. However, the 49ers won five of the last seven points to take the game, 30-27. Verdin slammed one of her three kills in the stanza to clinch the win. The 49ers hit only .208 (19-9-48) in game two, but played stellar defense and held the Waves to .146 (12-6-41) hitting. Vargas led the 49ers with four kills. Pepperdine did its best to win the game through outstanding blocking of its own, replicating the 49er effort of game one with a 7.0-1.0 advantage at the net. Rubenstein had three kills in game two for Pepperdine. Pepperdine grabbed game three with a late run of its own. The 49ers seemed to be in control with a 20-14 lead, but watched the Waves reel off an 8-2 run to tie the frame at 22-22. The Waves extended a two-point lead to 28-24 on an LBSU service and attack error, then closed out the frame on a service ace by junior Chevon Crum. The Waves served tough in game three with five service aces and also had their best effort in hitting percentage with a .250 (15-7-32) mark. Rubenstein and senior Sophia Milo had four kills each to lead Pepperdine. The 49ers also struggled offensively and posted a .156 (11-6-32) hitting percentage. Long Beach State led from nearly start to finish in game four. The Waves held a brief 3-2 lead, but LBSU went on a 13-6 run to lead 15-9. Pepperdine narrowed its deficit to 25-23, but Crimes took control in the game with six kills and the 49ers hit .278 (15-5-36) to eek out the 30-26 win. PEPPERDINE QUOTES Head Coach Nina Matthies On comeback: “When you’re down 0-2 you’re always looking to change the momentum. We had some opportunities and didn’t execute when those opportunities arose.” Outside Hitter Julie Rubenstein: Middle Blocker Sophia Milo:
Head Coach Brian Gimmillaro On Quincy: “Quincy is a great competitor and an excellent athlete. We’ve been working hard at getting her healthy for the playoffs. I didn’t play her in our last three matches, but it was a game time decision to start her tonight and she played really well.” On UH: “Hawai’i looked pretty darn good tonight. If they block like they did tonight I don’t know if we have a chance.” All-American Alexis Crimes Outside Hitter Quincy Verdin |
