Long Beach State University Athletics
49ers Finish Big West Play With Convincing Win
3/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
March 17, 2008
Long Beach, Calif. - FULLERTON, Calif. - Michaela Hasalikova hit .600 with 12 kills and Alexis Crimes led the way with a match-high 16 as Long Beach State defeated Cal State Fullerton 30-25, 30-23, 30-19 to finish the conference season 14-2. Talaya Whitfield added 20 digs in the three-game match to star defensively.
Closing out the conference season, Long Beach State put together a complete match in taking down the Titans. The 49ers picked up 61 digs led by Whitfield's 20 and hit .242 behind Hasalikova and Nicole Vargas, who had four kills on seven attacks to complement 34 assists. For Fullerton, Alex Wolnisty had 13 kills, but as a team the Titans only hit .122 and made 11 service errors to help Long Beach State come away with the sweep.
Game one started very evenly between the two teams, but the 49ers pulled ahead courtesy of a short run to grab a 12-7 lead. Cal State Fullerton worked their way back to one point down at 17-16, but the 49ers held onto the serving advantage, and never gave away the lead. Ahead 19-18, the 49ers started another run behind solid serving from Nicole Vargas and eventually moved out to a 25-18 lead. The Titans trimmed the lead to three points at 26-23, but the 49ers closed out the game to take a 30-25 win.
Long Beach State took advantage of continued serving issues from the Titans and moved out to a considerable lead in the second game, as Whitfield and Lee both made a number of spectacular digs on the way to a 24-14 score. Cal State Fullerton picked up a small run behind the serving of Genie Francisco, but Long Beach State moved ahead 28-17. Erin Saddler scored three straight aces to make the final score closer, but eventually a service error gave the 49ers a sideout on the way to a 30-23 final.
Coming out of the break Cal State Fullerton responded with an improved effort, opening game three with four straight points. Long Beach State took two points back, but Cal State Fullerton held on to the lead until a Hasalikova kill finally tied the game at 10-10. After working their way back to a tie, the 49ers finally took the lead courtesy of a Quincy Verdin kill at 13-12. From there, the 49ers got a couple of lucky points along with an ace from Cynthia Buggs to spark a run to 17-13. With the lead, the 49ers continued to push and won game three 30-19.
Long Beach State returns home for a number of matches next week. The 49ers begin with Temple on Wednesday, November 21 at 7 p.m. and then will host the Baden Thanksgiving Classic on Friday and Saturday. Action in the Classic will include four matches per day, including three Long Beach State tilts. The weekend will conclude with the final regular season game of the year, as the 49ers host No. 7 Florida at 7 p.m. November 4. The 49ers will also honor their five senior prior to that contest.
