Long Beach State University
8-1
Harvard
1-3
Volleyball Takes Harvard Invitational Title With 3-0 Win
9/13/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 13, 2008
Cambridge, Mass. - With one tough victory under their belt on Saturday, the 49ers responded with their most complete performance of the season, dropping Harvard 25-17, 25-11, 25-8 in 58 minutes Saturday evening. Quincy Verdin led the Beach with 11 kills on .476 hitting, adding six digs and seven blocks.
Overall in the match, the 49ers hit a season-high .444, making just six errors to 42 assists. In just a dominant effort, the 49ers had 8 aces, out-blocked the Crimson 9.5 to 1, and had 38 assists to Harvard's 18. Defensively, the 49ers also convincingly outperformed Harvard, making 42 digs to Harvard's 27. The 49ers were led by Iris Murray's 10 digs, but Vargas added 8, Caitlin Ledoux 7, and Verdin and Ashley Lee each had six digs for the Beach.
Long Beach State grave an early lead in the opening set, scoring the first six points including an ace from setter Nicole Vargas, as the 49ers came out quickly against Harvard. The Crimson were able to cut the lead to three at 9-6, but Long Beach State scored four points to regain a seven-point edge at 13-7, and used that cushion to ease towards a 25-17 win in the opening set.
Harvard had their only lead of the match in the second set, holding on at 3-2 before the 49ers came back to make the score 8-6. The Beach would then go on a 10-1 run, led by three kills from Verdin to put the set in hand with an 18-7 lead. The team would then advance to a 22-9 tally before winning the second set 25-11, hitting .684 while taking advantage of 8 Crimson attack errors.
The final set involved more of the season, as the 49ers hit .429 while absorbing just five kills from Harvard in a 25-8 win. After a 3-3 tie, the 49ers scored the next 10 points and 14 of the next 15, as Harvard was only able to squeeze in one kill from Mikaelle Comrie.
Setter Nicole Vargas' guidance through the four matches was rewarded, as she was one of three 49ers named to the Harvard Invitational All-Tournament team. Vargas made 136 assists over four matches, while adding 30 digs. Also making the All-Tournament team were Caitlin Ledoux and Ashley Lee. Ledoux made 49 kills and 27 digs on the weekend, while Lee had 22 kills on .388 hitting, 18 assists and led the team with 51 digs, averaging 3.64 digs per set.
With their four wins at the Harvard Invitational, No. 22 Long Beach State improves to 9-1 on the year and finishes their two major road trips of the season. Next week, the 49ers return home and will face Santa Clara for two matches in the Walter Pyramid. The teams will play on Friday and Saturday, with both matches scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
