Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
16-4
Notre Dame
10-10
Verdin's Career High Leads 49ers Past Notre Dame
10/21/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 21, 2008
Long Beach, Calif. - Long Beach State recovered from a slow start for a commanding 3-1 win over Notre Dame 20-25, 25-15, 25-23, 25-12 Tuesday night. The 49er rally was keyed by great play from Quincy Verdin, who put down a career-high tying 21 kills on .545 hitting with four blocks.
The 49ers had early control of the opening set, moving out to a 10-7 lead, and would lead by as many as four early. Notre Dame would fight back behind eight first set blocks, first tying the set at 15-15 before moving ahead 18-15. Long Beach State would cut the lead to one point at 19-18, but Notre Dame took the set 25-20.
Long Beach State turned the tide in the second set. After hitting .083 in the opener, the 49ers turned around their hitting, topping .300 in all three remaining sets to finish with .293 hitting as a team. Additionally, the 49ers hit .478 in the fourth set, led by Verdin, Caitlin Ledoux, who finished with 12 kills, and Ashley Lee, who had six in two sets playing in the front row.
Vargas also finished the match well, making four aces and four kills to go along with 34 assists. Iris Murray led the defense with 16 digs, while Lee also finished in double-digits with 10.
In set two, the 49ers opened up a 6-1 lead before an Irish timeout, and would force their second one with an 11-4 score. The 49ers would take a ten-point lead on an unconventional play with a Vargas kill on the third hit, and move ahead 19-7 before Notre Dame could pick up a second sideout. The Irish would mount a late rally, but the 49ers closed out the set with a 25-15 win.
A changed lineup paid dividends for The Beach down the stretch as the 49ers took set three. With Ashley Lee staying in the lineup in the front row along with the back in place of Cat Highmark, the 49ers kept their nerve through a close third set. Down 20-17 late, Notre Dame's largest lead of the set, the 49ers picked up three straight points to tie the set, and then hit Lee for two late kills, part of four for her in the set as the Beach grabbed a 25-23 win.
A pair of Vargas aces that bookended a Notre Dame timeout symbolized a nearly perfect final set for the 49ersr. Those two aces gave the 49ers a 9-1 lead before Notre Dame completed a sideout, and the 49ers would roll the rest of the way, moving ahead 22-9 before taking a 25-12 win in the final set, posting three blocks and three aces along with 12 kills with just one error.
Long Beach State returns to conference action this weekend with two matches, playing UC Davis on Friday at 7 p.m. before hosting Pacific on Saturday, also at 7 p.m. Friday's match also includes a recognition and reunion for Long Beach State's 1998 National Championship team, 10 years after they became the first team in Women's Volleyball history to go undefeated.
