Long Beach State University
8-1
American
4-4
49ers Top American To Stay Undefeated In Harvard Invitational
9/13/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 13, 2008
Cambridge, Mass. - After a first-set laugher, the 49ers played a tough match with American University, outlasting the Eagles 25-13, 26-28, 25-18, 23-25, 15-13 in five sets. Caitlin Ledoux and Ashley Lee both finished with double-doubles in the match, Lee setting a career-high with 21 digs.
Long Beach State came out with the same intensity that led to easy wins on Friday against CCSU and Dartmouth, as the 49eres won the first five points of the opening set on the way to a 9-1 lead. The 49ers held onto that advantage through most of the rest of the set, proceeding to 18-10 before eventually taking a 25-13 win, hitting over .500 while holding the Eagles to .074 hitting, starting what looked like another easy win for the 49ers in New England.
That set turned out to be the aberration, however, as the four remaining sets were battles throughout. Recovering from their slow start in set one, American took the early initiative in set two, taking an early lead at 3-6 behind a pair of service aces from Rubena Sukaj. Long Beach State recovered with a run of their own, scoring six straight points from 7-10 to take a 13-10 lead as Ledoux sparked the run with two kills. After an American timeout, the Eagles responded by tying the set at 14 and then taking the lead at 16-15. The 49ers would never again take the lead, despite 11 total ties in the set. With American holding a 24-22 lead, the 49ers fought off two set points, but a Cassandra Ricketts kill held the advantage for the Eagles, and finally at 27-26 a bad set from Brittney Herzog gave American the second set.
The two teams would continue to play very closely in the third set, as the teams played to a 13-13 tie with neither team taking a two-point edge during that time. Behind kills from Herzog and Ledoux, Long Beach State finally opened up an 18-13 lead, and would work from there to take a 25-18 win in the third set. Herzog was effective in limited touches in the third set, as she was throughout the entire match. The junior middle blocker had 13 kills while hitting .667 on the entire match, while her counterpart Naomi Washington added 10 kills on .318 hitting.
Long Beach State dropped the fourth set, as American held the advantage throughout. The Eagles hit .447, led by Rebena Sukaj, who had five of her 21 overall kills in the fourth set. The Eagles took a 5-2 lead, and despite .342 hitting from the Beach, a late comeback would fall short. Long Beach State got their closest in the set at 24-23 after a kill from Ledoux and a block by Nicole Vargas and Washington, but a kill from Sukaj ended the set.
Two kills from Sukaj allowed American to take a quick lead in the final set. The Eagles held onto that advantage through a tie score at 4-4, eventually taking a 7-5 lead. The 49ers would have the lead into the turn however, scoring three straight points all on Ledoux kills to earn their first lead at 8-7. With the match tied at 11, a Sukaj miss allowed the 49ers to take the lead, and two kills by Washington put the 49ers at match point. American would pull within one, but a Vargas and Washington block ended the match with a 15-13 final set score.
Ledoux was effective throughout, finishing with 19 kills and 14 digs, while Ashley Lee picked up 11 kills and a career-high 21 digs, leading the team defensively. Vargas made 58 assists for Long Beach State, helping five players reach double-digits in kills as Verdin, Washington and Herzog would join Lee and Ledoux with 10 or more kills.
Long Beach State will try to earn a tournament championship Saturday evening when they face host Harvard University. The teams will meet at 4:30 Pacific Time.
