Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach Survives Tough Battle In Stockton With Late Rally
3/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
March 17, 2008
Long Beach, Calif. - STOCKTON, Calif. - Quincy Verdin tied a career-high 21 kills and added 10 digs to help the 49ers rally from a 2-0 game deficit to win in five on the road in Stockton 28-30, 26-30, 32-30, 30-22, 15-13. Ashley Lee was one assists shy of a triple double, as the 49ers survived three tight first games to get their fifth conference win.
After dropping two games, the 49ers survived game three 32-30, and leaned on a huge game four performance from outside hitter Naomi Washington to send the game to a decisive game five. Washington tallied 7 of her season-high 16 kills in game four, hitting .545 as the team entered their second five-game match of the year.
Pacific opened the final game with a kill from Alexa Anderson, but the 49ers answered and took a 6-3 lead on a Washington kill and one of Kara Uhl's nine attack errors. The Tigers recovered at that point to take an 8-6 lead at the side switch, winning five straight points. Long Beach State won probably their most important point of the game after the side out, digging a number of nearly unhittable balls to tie the match, and set up a heavy dose of Quincy Verdin down the stretch, as she hit three straight kills and four of the next five points. After Pacific recovered for the sideout, Cynthia Buggs stole the momentum with a service ace, and after a trade of service errors, Long Beach State finally closed out the match with a Crimes kill.
In the end, what was probably the biggest scare of the night came at the end of the first game. Down 29-28, the Tigers closed out the first game on a kill from Alexa Anderson, and Alexis Crimes came down on her foot, and left for the locker room gingerly. Out their starting middle blocker through the first part of game two, the Tigers took a 19-14 lead, and won the second game despite the return of Crimes later in the game.
The return of Crimes for the remainder of the match was also coupled with a huge win in the third game. Quincy Verdin won two quick points to start out the game, and the 49ers moved out to a 13-10 lead in the early going of the match. Pacific recovered to tie the third game at 14-14, and both teams traded sideouts to a 22-22 tie. An Ashley Lee kill and a block from Crimes and Washington helped the 49ers to a 27-24 lead, but the Tigers tied the game at 30 after surviving three game points. Long Beach State closed out the game by hitting Crimes on the sideout, and got their second point after Kara Uhl's final attack hit the pole.
Defensively, the 49ers improved throughout the night, though Talaya Whitfield turned in another outstanding performance with 26 digs, and Buggs, Lee and Verdin all finished with double-digit digs. Verdin finished with her first-ever double-double, and Michaela Hasalikova, Washington, Lee and Crimes all finished with double-digit kills.
Game four was the most decisive of the night. Pacific opened the game out to a 12-10 lead, but the 49ers saw two straight outstanding rotations reel off a 11-1 run for a 20-13 lead, and continuing to set Washington on the outside, decisively closed out the game setting the stage for the exciting finale.
The road trip continues for the 49ers tomorrow, as the team stays north to play first-year conference member UC Davis in Davis. That match is scheduled for 7 p.m. The next home games for Long Beach State are next week, when the team hosts UC Santa Barbara and No. 24 Cal Poly in the Walter Pyramid.
