Long Beach State University Athletics
Volleyball Sweeps Northridge In Only Match Of Weekend
3/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
March 17, 2008
Long Beach, Calif. - LONG BEACH - Long Beach State closed out a tight third game after two blowout victories on the way to their fourth straight win 30-12, 30-22, 31-29 over Cal State Northridge on Saturday night. Alexis Crimes finished with 15 kills and setter Nicole Vargas added seven on .636 hitting to go with her 40 assists. With the win, the team improves to 10-5 on the season.
Long Beach State cruised through the first two games, taking advantage of not only their own game but numerous mistakes from an overmatched Matador club. In game one, after moving out to a 14-9 lead, senior Talaya Whitfield took the serve and the 49ers won 14 consecutive points. The 49ers took two points directly after Cal State Northridge timeouts, and included .405 hitting from the Beach, which was contrasted with -.103 team hitting from the Matadors in game one.
Overall, the 49ers hit .254 on the night and held Cal State Northridge to .076 hitting, including four individual players that ended the night in the negative, including two of the team's main attackers in Lynda Morales and Brittany Williams.
Game two was close early, and Cal State Northridge mobbed out to a four-point lead at 9-13 before once again, the Whitfield service rotation proved to work for the 49ers again, as the team won six straight points to move out to a 15-13 lead. Holding on to that edge, the game moved to a 21-21 tie, but the 49ers started to serve Alexis Crimes and Quincy Verdin, and the two upperclassmen helped the 49ers out to a 28-21 lead which was capped by a bad set from Lynda Morales to end the game, one of four for the Matadors in the match.
With two easy, but sloppy wins in the bank, game three started much like the second game did, with Cal State Northridge taking a slim early lead, primarily off solid blocking up front. But, as had occurred twice earlier in the match, with Whitfield starting things off the 49ers roared back and took a 13-12 lead. That edge would hold for the 49ers well into the later part of the match, as the team took a 25-18 lead. However, following a Cal State Northridge timeout, the Matadors battled back on some errors from Long Beach State and tied the match at 29 after a Brittany Williams kill, having held off three match points. The 49ers quickly closed the door at that point, as Vargas made another successful attack to get the advantage, and a block from Hasalikova and Lee finished out the match for the sweep.
Long Beach State will take a 4-1 conference record on the road with them this week for their longest remaining trip of the year. First up on the weekend is a Friday night date at Pacific before a trip to UC Davis on Saturday. Both matches are slated to begin at 7 p.m.
