Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
14-6, 8-2
UC Irvine
16-8, 6-3
Long Beach State Sweeps Anteaters In Irvine
10/26/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Long Beach State Sweeps Anteaters At Irvine Irvine, Calif. – A great hitting match for the 49ers led to a three-game sweep of the UC Irvine Anteaters on the road Friday as Long Beach State won 30-24, 34-32, 31-29. Alexis Crimes and Ashley Lee both hit over .500 on the night, and paced the 49ers to .325 hitting overall. Crimes finished the night with 13 kills on 23 attacks with one error, and Ashley Lee had 12 kills with two errors on 20 swings to lead the offensive attack, though both Nicole Moore and Quincy Verdin had nine kills to help balance the offense. Defensively, the team had 10 total kills including four in game three, including a pivotal stretch where the team made two straight blocks to tie the game at 15 after having trailed by five early in the game. Long Beach State came out on fire in game one, taking an early lead while making outstanding hitting, finishing the game with 16 kills and no attack errors, ending with a hitting percentage of .516 overall. The game remained close early, with the Anteaters taking a brief lead at 12-11 following a 49er two-point edge, but Long Beach State recovered with a four point run to take a 19-15, lead, and after stealing a point after a UC Irvine timeout, took six of the next eight to move ahead 25-18 and easily won game one 30-24. The second game was much more competitive throughout, even though Long Beach State again grabbed an early lead aver Nicole Vargas picked up one of her four service aces to jump start a 5-0 run for the 49ers. UC Irvine fought all the way back though, eventually taking a 17-16 lead before turning over the service advantage back to Long Beach State. A Kristen Kelly kill and subsequent block put UC Irvine ahead by two points at 27-25, and Long Beach State had to fight off three game points before getting two straight of their own to move ahead 32-31, and needed an extra game point themselves before closing out the win with a Nicole Moore kill at 34-32. Game three was just a close in the end, as the 49ers fought back from an 8-3 deficit early after the break to tie the game at 15-15, making a four point run after trailing 15-11 after struggling early. With that momentum, the team eventually took a 21-18 lead. Following that short rally, Long Beach State surrendered a number of ties, but never gave up the lead and grabbed the match 31-29 on their second match point. The 49ers play one more match on this road trip, heading to UC Riverside tomorrow to take on the Highlanders in the PE Gymnasium there at 7 p.m. Following that match, the team returns home for a Tuesday matchup with Cal State Fullerton at 7 p.m. in the Walter Pyramid. |
