Long Beach State University Athletics
Volleyball concludes home Big West action this week
11/8/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 8, 2010
Long Beach, Calif. -
Complete Volleyball Release in PDF Format 
THIS WEEK:
CS Northridge Matadors (12-16, 4-8 Big West) at
Long Beach State 49ers (19-6, 9-3 Big West)
Date: Thursday, November 11
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Walter Pyramid
UC Riverside Highlanders (2-26, 0-12 Big West) at
Long Beach State 49ers (19-6, 9-3 Big West)
Date: Friday, November 12
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Walter Pyramid
COMING UP:
Long Beach State 49ers (19-6, 9-3 Big West) at
Pacific Tigers (6-19, 2-10 Big West)
Date: Thursday, November 18
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Irvine, Calif.
Starting Out
The 49ers finish up the home half of their Big West schedule this weekend, hosting Cal State Northridge and UC Riverside one day early, playing Thursday and Friday this week to accommodate homecoming. First, the 49ers host the Matadors on Thursday, November 11 at 7 p.m. before taking on the Highlanders on Friday at 7 p.m. as well. Live video, audio and gametracker for the game can be found at www.longbeachstate.com.
Norcal Sweep
Long Beach State closed out an important five-game stretch with a pair of wins on the road to win at both UC Davis and Pacific for the first time since 2007. Janisa Johnson had a huge match on Friday to lead the 49ers past Pacific, as the sophomore led the team with 16 kills and made 21 digs, ending with her 12th double-double of the season. The next night, the 49ers outlasted UC Davis in five sets behind outstanding defense, as the 49ers had 15 total blocks and libero Lauren Minkel had 29 digs, while Caitlin Ledoux led the offense with 23 kills on the night.
And The Award Goes To
Outside hitter Caitlin Ledoux was named the Big West Player of the Week as announced by the Big West, earning the honor for the week of Nov. 8. With her selection, Ledoux has now won the award twice during the 2010 season. Leading the 49ers to a pair of road victories, Ledoux started the week with a double-double in a four-set win over Pacific, making 15 kills and 13 digs, and also added three blocks. She also passed Christine Romero to join the Long Beach State career top 10 in kills in that match. The following night, Ledoux led the way for the 49ers in a five-set win on the road at UC Davis, leading all hitters with 23 kills as Long Beach State picked up their second win of the weekend, while just missing another double-double with nine digs.
The Crucial Stretch
A five-game stretch pitted the six Big West title contenders against each other over the last three weeks, and the 49ers emerged nearly unscathed, going 4-1 over that stretch, but so did Cal State Fullerton, allowing the Titans to maintain a one-game lead over Long Beach State. The 49ers hold the tiebreaker over Cal State Fullerton, having swept the Titans in their two meetings this season. With four matches left to play for each school in, both teams close out the conference season with against the bottom three teams in the standings.
Scouting Cal State Northridge
After 12 games played in the Big West, Long Beach State plays the Matadors twice in the next four matches. The Matadors are 12-16 overall and 4-8 in conference, but have played tough through most of their matches. Natalie Allen leads the team with 2.97 kills per set, but nearly every other hitter has been substituted at one time or another in the lineup. Sam Orlandini guides the offense, averaging 9.41 assists per set.
Long Beach State vs. the Matadors
Long Beach State leads the all-time series with CSUN by a large margin, 44-18, but the 49ers and the Matadors have split the meetings over the last two years, struggling to win in the Matadome. In the Walter Pyramid, though, the 49ers haven't lost to CS Northridge since 2004. In the Matadors last trip to the Walter Pyramid, Ledoux hit .370 with 11 kills as the 49ers swept the Matadors.
Scouting UC Riverside
The Highlanders continue to work through a nightmare season, that has UC Riverside sitting at 2-26, having lost 12 straight matches. The Highlanders are also 0-12 in league play, losing last week at home to CS Northridge and UC Irvine, both in four sets. Shelby LeDuff leads the team, averaging 2.90 kills per set, while Kelly Simpson averages 2.84 kills per set and has made 23 aces on the year.
Long Beach State vs. the Highlanders
Long Beach State has never lost to the Aggies, a streak that now has lasted 14 matches. However, the 49ers have struggled recently on the road at UC Riverside, needing 33 kills from Ledoux two years ago before outlasting the Highlanders in five sets in Riverside earlier this season. However,Long Beach State has never lost a set at home to UC Riverside under Brian Gimmillaro.
Block Party
Two players averaging over a block per set have helped pace the 49ers to one of their best blocking rates in years, and the tops in the Big West this season. Long Beach State averages 2.95 blocks per set, over a half-block better than the second-place team in the Big West. Haleigh Hampton leads the conference individually with 1.59 blocks per set, while Michelle Osunbor is fourth with 1.10 per set. Hampton's totals rank second nationally, and the pair is even better in conference play, where Long Beach State's middles come in at 1.70 and 1.19 blocks per set respectively. As a team, Long Beach State ranks 6th nationally in blocking.
Ledoux-ing It
Caitlin Ledoux joined the Top 10 in career kills at Long Beach State last weekend, totalling 1,182 kills while passing Christine Romero as part of a big week that saw Ledoux made 38 kills over two matches. Ledoux now is looking up a Nique Crump, who has 1,235 kills, and Brita Schwerm at 1,344. Ledoux also needs 22 kills to reach 400 kills in one season for a second time.
Tournament Watch
With the NCAA releasing weekly RPI updates, fans can get a better look than ever before at the numbers that feature most prominently in the tournament seeding and entry processes. Long Beach State saw their standing continue to improve last week, as the 49ers moved up to No. 20, after beating two teams that were in the Top 100. Cal State Fullerton, who the 49ers beat twice, sit at No. 24, while another win over No. 21 Colorado State continues to raise the 49ers RPI. However, the 49ers are likely to have a big dip next week, even with wins over No. 166 Cal State Northridge and No. 269 UC Riverside.
Record Watch
Setter Ashley Lee, who started the year 10th on the career assists list at Long Beach State passed both Heather Hofmans and Joy McKienzie for eighth place. She just hit another milestone, passing 2,000 assists and has now made 2,155 over her career. In single-season notes, Haleigh Hampton's 33 solo blocks is tied for ninth-most in school history, while Lauren Minkel is 21 digs away from reaching the Top 10 in one season for the second time, after reaching 485 digs last season, fourth-most in Long Beach State history.
Digging It
In additional milestones from earlier this season, both Ashley Lee and Lauren Minkel made their 1,000th career dig. Lee reached the mark one match sooner, hitting it against UC Irvine while Minkel, the team's starting libero, got to 1,000 digs one match later against UC Riverside. The pair has quickly moved up the career lists, and Minkel now sits in sixth place with 1,095 career digs, while Lee is seventh with 1,073 digs in her career.
