Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
18-6, 8-3BWC
Pacific
16-9, 7-5BWC
Johnson leads 49ers past Pacific in four sets
11/5/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 5, 2010
Stockton, Calif. - Sophomore Janisa Johnson led an effective 49er attack finishing with 16 kills and 21 digs as Long Beach State defeated Pacific on the road 25-14, 21-25, 25-18, 25-19 on Friday night. The 49ers finished with 78 digs and 13 blocks, holding the Tigers to .085 hitting on the night.
Caitlin Ledoux also finished with a double-double, ending up with just one less kill than Johnson at 15 while making 13 digs, and moving into the career top ten in kills at Long Beach State with 1,159 career kills.
The Beach was most impressive in set one, hitting .243 with 14 kills while holding Pacific to -.049 hitting with just seven kills and nine attack errors. Leading 7-4, Long Beach State scored six straight points, closing out their push with a kill from Delainey Aigner-Swesey to take a 13-4 lead on the way to a 16-6 edge. The Tigers made a small push, but Long Beach State eventually took their largest lead of the match with the final tally in a 25-14 win.
The 49ers again took an early lead in the second set, but the Tigers remained mistake free and were able to steal the set behind .275 hitting and three errors. The 49ers led 12-8, but the Tigers cut the lead to one at 13-12 with a Svenja Engelhardt kill. Long Beach State briefly maintained the lead, but the Tigers pushed past the 49ers to take a 19-17 lead after an Engelhardt solo block. The Beach tied the set one ore time at 19-19, but the Tigers controlled the action up to the break and took a 25-21 set two win.
Tied 10-10 in the third set, Long Beach State scored three straight points to grab their first lead and forced the Tigers to take their first timeout of the set. With one more kill out of the timeout from Michelle Osunbor and two errors from Pacific, Long Beach State took an 18-13 lead on the way to a 25-18 win.
After the third set win, the 49er momentum carried into set four, as Long Beach State stormed out to an 8-0 lead behind blocks from Haleigh Hampton and Ashley Lee as well as a block from Hampton and Ledoux and a number of Pacific attack errors. The Tigers worked their way back to within four points at 9-5, but Long Beach State continued to sideout and again grabbed a six-point lead at 15-9. Pacific cut the lead to three at 15-12 with a run capped by an Engelhardt kill, but Long Beach State answered with a five-point run of their own to lead 20-12. Pacific held off four match points starting at 24-15, but Long Beach State finally closed out the match with a 25-19 win.
With the win, the 49ers kept pace with Cal State Fullerton and remain one game back of the top spot in the league standings. Long Beach State continues its trip north Saturday, November 6, heading to UC Davis for a 7 p.m. date with the Aggies.
