Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
6-5 (0-1)
Cal Poly
7-6 (1-0)
49ers Fall To Cal Poly
9/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
49ers Fall In Big West Opener SAN LUIS OBISPO -- After a close call in game one, Cal Poly turned it on in games two and three and came away with a 30-27, 30-22, 30-17 win over Long Beach State in the Big West Conference opener for both squads. The 20th-ranked Mustangs improved to 7-6 with the win and 1-0 in the Big West. The 49ers saw their four-match win streak snapped, falling to 6-5 and 0-1. Long Beach was its own worst enemy on the evening, producing 12 service errors, with no aces, and hitting just .217. 49er senior Alexis Crimes led the 49ers with 13 kills on the night and Quincy Verdin added 10. Junior Kylie Atherstone led the Mustangs with 15 kills. Cal Poly hit an impressive .330 for the match, including a .486 (19-2-35) performance in game three. In a tight game one, the 49ers and Mustangs were tied at 18-18 when Cal Poly went on a 4-0 run. The Mustangs maintained a three to four-point lead before the 49ers made a late run. Long Beach cut the deficit to 28-27 on a kill by Crimes. After a Cal Poly timeout, the Mustangs closed out the game on an Atherstone kill and a Gaby Rivera ace. Long Beach hit .237 in the game, compared to just .190 for the Mustangs. Atherstone and Rivera both had five kills in the game. Game two saw the 49ers jump to an early 5-1 lead. Cal Poly tied the game at 7-7 and then took control half way through. Leading 16-15, the Mustangs used a 5-1 run to take command at 21-16. They pushed the advantage to 24-17 before finishing off a 30-22 win. Cal Poly hit .342 (17-4-38) in the game as Atherstone added six more kills to the cause. Game three was all Cal Poly as they jumped to a 3-0 lead, pushed it to 11-5 and then to 15-7. Freshman Ashley Lee added nine kills and 10 digs for Long Beach State and setter Nicole Vargas had three kills, 32 assists and three block assists. Talaya Whitfield had a strong outing with 16 digs, while Cynthia Buggs and Lee both added 10. Cal Poly took advantage of some strong serving, finishing with five aces. But the Mustangs were able to move the ball around the court on their serve, forcing numerous bad passes by the 49er back row. Ali Waller added nine kills to the cause, as did Jaclyn Houston. The Mustangs also dominated in the middle as Houston hit .533 (9-1-15) and fellow middle blocker Dominique Olowolafe hit .750 (6-0-8). Long Beach will continue its Central Coast swing when they play at UC Santa Barbara on Saturday evening at 7 pm. |
