Long Beach State University
26-7
USC
27-4
Season Ends For 49ers In Five-Game NCAA Battle
12/1/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Season Ends For 49ers In Five-Game NCAA Battle
49ers exit the tournament at the hands of the fifth-ranked USC Trojans.
Dec. 1, 2007
LOS ANGELES -- Asia Kaczor had a match-high 34 kills as Long Beach State couldn't quite finish off an upset of No. 5 USC on the road at the Galen Center in a 30-28, 24-30, 25-30, 30-21, 11-15. Senior Alexis Crimes had 24 kills to lead the 49ers, while senior Talaya Whtifield finished with 32 digs for the 49ers.
Long Beach State opened up the final game with a block to take a 1-0 lead, and the 49ers would hold onto the edge as both teams were able to sideout early. USC regained the service advantage at 5-4, and took a two point lead at 6-4 from a Diane Copenhagen kill. The 49ers would cut the lead to one at 7-6, but a missed opportunity on an overpass led to a three-point run for USC which doomed the 49ers chances to upset the No. 5 Trojans.
Characterizing a evenly-matched battle between top teams, the 49ers and Trojans took big swings of momentum through out the match. The 49ers had solid all-around performances from Ashley Lee and Crimes who both finished with double-doubles, including a career-high 20 digs for Lee to go with 17 kills. Cynthia Buggs also finished with a career-high in digs in her final collegiate match, knocking up 19 attacks.
Overall, the 49ers were hurt by the solid hitting of the Trojans. Kaczor was the primary problem, finishing with 34 kills for USC on .305 hitting, taking 82 swings, 21 more the Crimes who was the next closest in the match, and 33 more than Diane Copenhagen who had 11 kills for the Trojans. The 49ers couldn't keep the Trojans under .200 in any game, though Long Beach State hit .228 for the match.
Opening very strongly, Long Beach State made a 7-2 run in game one including two blocks before a USC timeout. Out of the timeout, the 49ers continued to hold the momentum with a 6-1 run before a second Trojan timeout to try and stop the Beach who held a 13-3 lead. The Trojans scored three points out of that break before a Genna Urango service error. That was part of a larger 8-1 USC run prompting a LBSU timeout. USC eventually came within one at 15-14, and once more at 18-17. The 49ers never gave up the lead entirely, though, and Lee finished out the game with a kill on the left side to close out a 30-28 game one win.
USC opened with a 4-0 start to flip the momentum at the beginning of the games. LBSU recovered to pull within one at 8-9, and the 49ers tied the game at 10, but after a 12-12 tie, USC went on a 5-1 run to regain control. From there, the 49ers were unable to get closer than two at 19-17, and with the score at 23-19, USC put together a 3-0 rally that ended any chance for the Beach on the way to a game two loss.
Despite a 3-0 start for USC in game three, the teams were fairly evenly matched through the start of the game. However, an 8-0 run allowed USC to take control of the match, taking the score from 8-11 to 19-9. With that advantage the Trojans were able to turn sideouts on the way to an easier 30-25 victory. Long Beach State's best run came after USC had moved out to a 22-12 lead. The 49ers ran off a 7-1 run to cut the lead to four at 23-19.
In the closest start of the match, neither team moved out to a quick advantage in game four. Following some Trojan miscommunication, Long Beach State was the first to take a lead larger than one at 9-5. Two straight aces from Sarah Hudson helped the 49ers extend their lead, as the 49ers capitalized on the brief absence of USC stars Carico and Kaczor following a lineup switch from Mick Haley. Long Beach State would eventually work their lead out to nine following a service ace by Lee. From there, the 49ers would take a 24-13 lead on the way to a 30-21 win.
Long Beach State finishes the 2007 campaign with a record of 26-7, with all seven losses coming to ranked teams.
