Volleyball begins Big West play by hosting Cal State Fullerton on Saturday
9/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 21, 2010
Long Beach, Calif. -
Complete Release in PDF Format 
THIS WEEK:
No. 23 Long Beach State 49ers (9-3, 0-0 Big West) at
LMU Lions (6-6, 0-0 West Coast)
Date: Friday, September 24
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Los Angeles, Calif.
CS Fullerton Titans (10-3, 0-0 Big West) at
No. 23 Long Beach State 49ers (9-3, 0-0 Big West)
Date: Saturday, September 25
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Walter Pyramid
COMING UP:
No. 23 Long Beach State 49ers (9-3, 0-0 Big West) at
UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (6-6, 0-0 Big West)
Date: Friday, October 1
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Santa Barbara, Calif.
Starting Out
Long Beach State returns to California for two matches as Long Beach State closes out the first "half" of the season. First, the 49ers play their final non-conference game until Thanksgiving, heading just up the road to face Loyola Marymount for the first time in an away contest since 1996. That match starts at 7 p.m. on Friday, September 24. Then on Saturday at 7 p.m., Long Beach State returns to the Walter Pyramid for the team's Big West Conference opener, hosting a Cal State Fullerton squad that is tied for the best record in the league coming into the week. Check www.longbeachstate.com for additional coverage of both matches.
Old Colorado Home
A busy weekend saw Long Beach State grab its biggest win of the season before a later upset brought the team back to earth in a busy weekend in Colorado. The team started with a 3-0 sweep of VCU before taking on No. 14 Colorado State in Fort Collins. Behind 18 kills each from Janisa Johnson and Haleigh Hampton, the 49ers defeated the Rams in five sets, winning 21-25, 33-31, 23-25, 25-15, 15-11. Driving to Denver the next morning, a 1 p.m. start against Middle Tennessee State led to difficulty, as the 49ers couldn't recover from a slow start in a five-set loss to the Blue Raiders, dropping the final set 17-15. Closing out the trip with a fourth match in two days, Long Beach State beat Denver in four sets behind 14 kills from Caitlin Ledoux.
Hampton Honors
Haleigh Hampton was selected as the Co-Big West Player of the Week as the freshman middle blocker had 52 kills and 21 blocks over the weekend for the 49ers. Hampton started off the week with a strong performance against VCU, making 12 kills on .569 hitting, but her biggest moment came while leading the 49ers to a road victory against No. 14 Colorado State. Against the Rams, Hampton tied for the team lead with 18 kills on .517 hitting, while also making four solo blocks to help the 49ers upend their second ranked team of the season. With her selection as the co-player of the week, Hampton joins Caitlin Ledoux as honorees for the 2010 season. Long Beach State is the first school to have multiple selections in 2010.
Scouting Loyola Marymount
Loyola Marymount makes takes their home opener against the 49ers on Friday, posting a 6-6 record while playing in four tournaments. The Lions most impressive outing this year actually came in a road match, nearly defeating Utah State on the road in five sets, falling 16-14 in the fifth. Jasmine Rankins averages 3.71 kills per set, while Felicia Arriola averages 3.31 as the pair carries the Lion offense.
Long Beach State vs. the Lions
Despite the close proximity of the schools, Long Beach State and LMU have only played 18 times, with Long Beach State going 15-3. The last win in the series for LMU came in 1994, when the Lions won in three sets. The teams played in the 1997 NCAA Tournament, then did not face each other for 11 years until the 49ers took a 25-12, 25-17, 25-11 sweep behind Brittney Herzog's 12 kills on .526 hitting.
Scouting Cal State Fullerton
The Titans have quietly been putting together a very strong season, starting out the year with a league-best 10-3 record, with two of those losses coming in five sets and taking a game off of No. 6 USC on the road. Senior setter Andrea Ragan leads the conference with 11.98 assists per set, while Erin Saddler leads the Titans in kills, averaging 4.52 per set.
Long Beach State vs. the Titans
In a very impressive streak, Long Beach State has won 55 straight matches over Cal State Fullerton, and leads the all-time series 77-4 dating back to 1966. Last year, the 49ers swept the Titans in both meetings. In the home match in the Walter Pyramid, Long Beach State won 25-17, 28-26, 25-17 behind great defense from Lauren Minkel, who made 23 digs, along with balanced offense guided by Ashley Lee who had 25 assists.
Poll Position
Long Beach State picked up a few votes this week, as the team's win over No. 14 Colorado State offset the team's loss to Middle Tennessee State, but the upset win by the Blue Raiders likely negated larger gains from the 49ers. The No. 23 49ers will likely stay put for the greater part of the season, as the team plays no other ranked opponents, and will only get one other team from the Big West that is receiving votes in Pacific.
Ledoux-ing It
With 59 kills in four matches last weekend, Caitlin Ledoux brought 1,000 kills firmly in sight, as the junior just needs 16 kills to become the 16th 49er to reach the milestone. Ledoux can then start moving her way up the career lists at Long Beach State, with four other players within 100 kills, starting with 2009 All-American Naomi Washington and finishing with current 49er assistant coach Erika Chidester.
Breakout!
Long Beach State has turned a number of freshmen and sophomore players to play important roles to complement the veteran leadership of senior Ashley Lee and juniors Caitlin Ledoux and Lauren Minkel. Sophomore Janisa Johnson ranks in the Big West's Top 10 in both kills and digs, coming in second for the 49ers in both categories with 163 kills and 142 digs after spending last season on the bench. Another sophomore that saw limited time in 2010, Sarah Clause replaced injured freshman Delainey Aigner-Swesey and made 21 kills and 16 blocks in her first weekend of action. Freshman Haleigh Hampton leads the Big West in blocking and her 2.96 kills per set are good for third for LBSU, as she plays a big role for the 49ers in the middle.
Record Watch
Setter Ashley Lee, who started the year 10th on the career assists list at Long Beach State passed Heather Hofmans for ninth place and now has 1,633 assists for her career, and is looking next at 8th place, held by Joy McKienzie with 1,743. Lee also is three digs away from joining the top 10 in digs as well, passing Iris Murray. Junior libero Lauren Minkel is also fast approaching Murrray's dig total, and both Lee and Minkel should have over 1,000 digs by the end of the season. Junior outside hitter Caitlin Ledoux will likely reach 1,000 kills by the end of the week, and with success comes getting set often: her 2,766 attempts are now tied for eighth in school history.
This and That
13 more wins in 2010 will give Brian Gimmillaro 700 in his career ... Only seven active coaches have reached 700 wins, and only 13 have ever reached that distinction ... also on pace to reach that mark over the year are Karen Chisum (Texas State, 697) and Mary Wise (Florida, 689), both just ahead of Gimmillaro's 678 career victories ... Lauren Minkel passed Janisa Johnson in digs for 2010 this week, but Johnson still has an impressive 142 digs for a player who spends half her time in the front row ... Minkel's next race is to see if the junior can beat senior setter Ashley Lee to 1,000 career digs ... If Lee reaches that mark, she'd be the fourth player to have 1,000 digs and 1,000 assists in her career at Long Beach State, joining Misty May, Sheri Sanders and Nicole Vargas.
