Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
2-4, 0-0
Washington
7-0 0-0
49ers Grab One But Fall To No. 8 Washington
9/6/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
49ers Grab One But Fall To No. 8 Washington LONG BEACH – After two Husky wins, Long Beach State outplayed No. 8 Washington in the third game, but was unable to complete the comeback in a 25-30, 15-30, 30-25, 22-30 loss on Thursday night. Alexis Crimes once again led the 49ers with 19 kills and seven blocks. Game three was clearly the high point for the Beach on the night. After making nine attack errors in game two, a fired up 49ers squad responded by taking a 5-1 lead and outplaying the Huskies in every facet. The 49ers hit .400 in the game, and defensively, made 17 digs to the Huskies eight to grab the win. Long Beach State also had four blocks in that game alone to help the cause. On the night, the 49ers outdug the Huskies 61-55, and finished with 11 blocks. Crimes had seven kills in the opening game, and finished with 19 kills overall. Ashley Lee finished with her fourth double-double on the year with 11 kills and 12 digs, and Nicole Vargas also finished with a double-double, adding 10 digs with her 46 assists. Long Beach State dug a big hole early but fought all the way back in a close first game. Washington started out the match with a 6-1 open, but a Long Beach State timeout helped stem the early run. Crimes finished with a kill out of the break, and the 49ers took four straight points to cut the lead down to one. The team would later tie the game at 9 after a Naomi Washington solo block, and then after a slew of sideouts, the team finally took their first lead at 14-13. However, Washington took four straight points to regain the lead, and held onto that edge through the rest of the game, taking the opener 30-25 after the Huskies final serve of the game dribbled over the net for the win. The second game proceeded much as the first, with Washington capitalizing on 49er mistakes to start game two with an 8-2 lead. However, that was where the similarities ended as Long Beach State was unable to recapture their first game success and were unable to chip significantly into that advantage. The Huskies reached the halfway point with an eight point lead at 15-7, and the closest the 49ers would get was within five for the remainder of a 30-15 Washington win. Long Beach State rebounded for a much better start in game three, taking a 5-1 lead out of the break to force a Washington timeout. The Beach held on to that advantage, utilizing a number of kills from Crimes and Verdin to take a 12-7 lead. Washington began to rally at that point, cutting into the lead and moving to within one at 17-16 before a Gimmillaro timeout. The 49ers took three of the first four points out of the timeout, and reached 20 points first at 20-17. The Huskies came all the way back to tie at that point, but Crimes came away with a kill to hold the lead off of the sideout. Holding the service advantage, Lee finally provided the 49ers with a two point edge with a nice cross-court kill for a 24-22 lead. Eventually, the 49ers moved out to a 27-24 lead, and coming off of a Nicole Vargas kill, Crimes finished off game three with a block to take a 30-25 win. Capitalizing on the momentum from their game three win, the 49ers started out with three straight points, ending with an ace by Sarah Hudson. However, Washington answered back with a quick run of their own to take a 7-4 lead. Long Beach State pulled to within one at 12-11, but couldn't gain the tie at that point. Washington held the edge on the serve, and eventually moved out to a 22-16 lead before taking the game and the match 30-22. Long Beach State remains at home, and will try to get their first win in the Pyramid on Saturday night when they host Florida State. The Seminoles and the Beach will commence play at 7 p.m., with the first 1,000 fans in the doors getting a free t-shirt. The Huskies will remain in town one more day, and will play Florida State in the Walter Pyramid tomorrow at 7 p.m. |
