Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
0-2
Stanford
1-0
49ers Fall To No. 2 Stanford
8/25/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
49ers Fall To No. 2 Stanford LONG BEACH – Senior Alexis Crimes led the way with 20 kills as Long Beach State pushed No. 2 Stanford for three games, but the Cardinal came away with a 26-30, 19-30, 27-30 on Saturday night. The 49ers improved their hitting to .256 on the match, but 49 digs from the Cardinal in three games combined with strong hitting stopped the Beach. Stanford was helped by a solid performance by Long Beach local Cynthia Barboza. The former Wilson high standout had 18 kills on .484 hitting and tallied a double-double on the night, recording 10 digs. For Long Beach State, Quincy Verdin had an outstanding night, hitting .542 and recording 15 kills. Long Beach State also saw extended action from two freshman, who each played well. Lee followed up a 7 kill performance with a good all-around effort, finishing one shy of double-double with nine kills and nine assists. Also making her collegiate debut in the third game was Michelle Osunbor, a middle blocker from Texas who helped with a block assist and played well in the front row for the final half of the game. Fans were treated to a spectacular rally right off the bat, when six digs later Crimes finally put away the first point for a 1-0 Beach lead. The 49ers continued to take advantage of Cardinal mistakes and eventually moved ahead 5-3 after a Quincy Verdin kill. Long Beach State held that lead, and used the momentum from a Verdin-Crimes block to spark a small rally to 11-7, leading to a Stanford timeout. The Cardinal responded from the break to answer back, and a big dig by Gabi Ailes helped Stanford tie the game at 13-13, one of four digs for Ailes in the first. From there, an Alix Klineman kill gave Stanford the lead which they pushed out to 16-13. A Brian Gimmillaro timeout led to a 49er answer at that point. Long Beach State used Verdin and Crimes kills on the way to 17-17 tie, but couldn't quite push over the top for the lead. A Dyanne Lawlor solo block cut the lead back down to 20-19, but Stanford came back with four straight points until Jessica Fishburn hit a service error to end the run. An Ashley Lee kill cut lead down to 26-24, but Stanford moved back ahead 28-25, and the lead was too much as Stanford took game one 30-26. Stanford took an early two point advantage in the second game, but Long Beach State recovered to an 8-7 mark after a Verdin kill. Barboza responded with a kill and the Cardinal put two together for 12-9 lead. Crimes came back with a kill to cut the lead to one at 13-12, but a Stanford run of four capped by a Klineman kill extended their advantage for a 17-12 lead. Long Beach State got a brief reprieve with a service error, but Stanford continued their rally until the score was 20-13. The 49ers held even from there, but were unable to grab service points to cut into the lead. With the score at 25-18, Stanford gained a few more points off of an attack error and a Klineman block, and closed out game two with a 30-19 margin. The Beach jumped out to a 4-3 lead early in game three after a Lee kill, but Stanford hung around and took an 8-7 lead after a Bryn Kehoe dump from the middle. After a LBSU timeout, the 49ers switched to Michelle Osunbor in the front, and the team responded with a quick run to regain the lead at 11-10, and added another point as Talay Whitfield recorded her second ace of the match. From there, the team's traded sideouts, with neither gaining more than a one-point advantage through most of the rest of the game. Long Beach State held the lead for a stretch of even play, and regained the lead at 25-24 after a brief Stanford edge at 24-23. Stanford took their final lead of the match at 26-25 however, and held on to take the final game 30-27 after a final Ashley Lee kill. Long Beach State will next head to the road, as the team travels back east to New York for the St. John's Tournament hosted by the title university. The team will play the hosts on Saturday, September 1, and will also play Fairfield and Virginia Tech over the weekend. The next home match for the 49ers is scheduled for Sept. 6, when the team will host No. 8 Washington back in the friendly confines of the Walter Pyramid. That match will start at 7 p.m. |
