Long Beach State University Athletics
Beach Volleyball Hits The Road For Two
10/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 14, 2008
Long Beach, Calif. -
Complete Volleyball Release in PDF Format 
THIS WEEK:
No. 24 Long Beach State 49ers (14-3, 4-1 Big West) at
UC Irvine Anteaters (8-10, 3-2 Big West)
Date: Thursday, Oct. 16
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Irvine, Calif.
No. 24 Long Beach State 49ers (14-3, 4-1 Big West) at
UC Riverside Highlanders (7-13, 2-3 Big West)
Date: Friday, October 17
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Riverside, Calif.
COMING UP:
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9-9, 4-2 Big East) at
No. 24 Long Beach State 49ers (14-3, 4-1 Big West)
Date: Tuesday, October 21
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Walter Pyramid
Black and Blue
The 49ers kick off the week with the Black and Blue Rivalry series, heading just down the road to Irvine for volleyball's first meeting with UC Irvine. Long Beach State's third conference road game will start at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 17. After that, Long Beach State's Big West slate continues the next night when the 49ers take on the Highlanders of Riverside. That match gets a late start on the road at 7:30 p.m. Friday night.
A Look Ahead
Long Beach State's time at home will continue in the coming weeks, as The Beach plays seven of their next nine matches in the Walter Pyramid. After the three matches this week, the 49ers will stay in the Los Angeles area to play rival UC Irvine and UC Riverside. The team will then take on hosting duties for another three-game homestand, hosting Notre Dame, UC Davis and Pacific from Oct. 21-25.
Big Plays And Big Wins
Long Beach State picked up a trio of Big West conference victories to move into a three-way loss-column tie for first place in the Big West. First, the 49ers dispatched Cal State Northridge in three sets on Tuesday, and then turned to two key matchups against No. 22 Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara. The 49ers dropped the first set in both games, but won each match in five to improve to 4-1 in the conference and 14-3 overall.
Scouting UC Irvine
UC Irvine starts the week just under .500 overall and just over it in conference play. With an 8-10 record, the Anteater's biggest win in the earlier part of the year came against Pittsburgh, but the team also struggled against a number of top teams including San Diego, Kansas State and Oregon. In Big West, play, the Anteaters have performed as expected, falling to Fullerton and Pacific but beating UC Riverside, UC Davis and CS Northridge.
Long Beach State vs. the Anteaters
Long Beach State has dominated the all-time series against UC Irvine, winning 56 of the 62 all-time meetings between the teams, including six straight victories since UC Irvine turned the tide with three wins including a sweep in 2003. Last year, the 49ers won in four sets at home before sweeping the Anteaters in Irvine in three sets. Quincy Verdin had a big showing on the road last year, tying Alexis Crimes for the team lead with 17 kills in the four-set win.
Scouting UC Riverside
UC Riverside has opened the year with a 7-13 overall record, and is 2-3 in conference play. The Highlanders have taken care of business against the two 0-6 teams in the conference, but have yet to beat anyone else through five games. Offensively, the Highlanders are led by Kelly Fink, who averages 3.40 kills per game, sixth in the conference.
Long Beach State vs. the Highlanders
Long Beach State has also controlled the series with UC Riverside historically, leading the all-time series 27-3. Long Beach State has won eight in a row and has only lost one time since 1982, on the road in 2003. The Beach cruised past the Highlanders at home last year, relying on four players with 12 or 13 kills for an easy win, including returning players Ashley Lee and Quincy Verdin. In the rematch, Verdin again led the way with 12 kills on .647 hitting in another sweep, 30-21, 34-32, 30-15.
Liking Ledoux
Caitlin Ledoux earned the first Big West Player of the Week honors for a Long Beach State volleyball player this week, taking the award after leading The Beach to three big conference victories this past week. A freshman outside hitter, Ledoux led the 49ers in kills against Cal State Northridge, and then set a season high with 20 kills and 12 digs as she helped the 49ers topple No. 22 Cal Poly in five sets. The following night, Ledoux set a career-high in kills with 22 and finishing with another double-double when Long Beach State improved to 3-0 on the week with a win over UC Santa Barbara.
History & Verdin
Senior outside hitter Quincy Verdin continues to put up solid numbers in her final season at Long Beach State. With 196 kills during the season, she stands second on the team in kills, and is just seven kills away from having 900 in her career with just over half the season played. That leaves her with plenty of time to become the 14th player to reach 1,000 kills while at The Beach, joining 12 others and the last to reach it, Alexis Crimes, who finished her senior year last season.
Climbing the Ranks
After a two-week absence, Long Beach State's three wins this past week propelled the 49ers back into the Top 25 at No. 24 with 130 votes. That was based primarily on the team's first win over a ranked opponent this year, as the 49ers beat No. 22 Cal Poly 23-25, 25-23, 25-22, 21-25, 15-9 at home, dropping the Mustangs out of the poll and leaving the 49ers as the only Big West program in the Top 25.
Fresh Faces
The 49ers' new faces had a strong start to the 2008 season, as many have been counted on early on in the year. Freshman Caitlin Ledoux has immediately stepped in to play a big role. Leading the team in kills in eight overall matches, Ledoux leads the team in kills overall this season and also averages 2.35 digs per set. Brittney Herzog has responded well in taking over a starting role in the middle and currently leads the conference in hitting percentage, at .386 with 92 kills. True freshman Lauren Minkel has also played in every set this year in the back row.
