Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State heads north for critical road trip at Cal Poly and UCSB
10/17/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 17, 2011
Long Beach, Calif. -
Complete Women's Volleyball Release 
Starting Out
Long Beach State faces a crucial road trip this weekend as the 49ers look to hold on to their lead in the Big West Standings. First, the 49ers will travel to face Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo on Friday, October 21 at 7 p.m. The next night, Long Beach State will play UC Santa Barbara in the Thunderdome at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 22. Live audio will be provided through www.longbeachstate.com for both matches.
Rebounding at Home
Long Beach State has now won a season-best four straight matches, after picking up a pair of wins as the 49ers finished off a three-game homestand. First, Long Beach State played one of their best matches of the season against UC Davis in a match that placed two teams at the top of the standings against each other. Sophomore Haleigh Hampton hit .611 with 12 kills against the Aggies, while defensively the 49ers held UC Davis to .046 hitting in a 25-11, 25-20, 25-12 breeze against a team that came in 4-2 in Big West play. The next night, Tigers' outside hitter Samantha Misa had a big night with 18 kills and 17 digs, but Long Beach State answered with a balanced effort, finding four players for double-digit kills, including a career-high 12 for freshman middle blocker Alma Serna as The Beach defeated Pacific 25-16, 23-25, 25-20, 25-17. Senior Caitlin Ledoux had 14 kills and 13 digs to tie for the team lead on both categories against Pacific.
Critical Week
Long Beach State holds a one-game lead in the Big West standings at the half-way point of the conference season, but this upcoming week is a cruicial one in terms of the standings, as the top four teams square off this coming weekend, as the 49ers and Cal State Fullerton travel to Cal Poly and UCSB. After this weekend, the conference picture will be much clearer, with the four main contenders having completed both sides of that road trip.
Scouting Cal Poly
Cal Poly is still a tremendously talented team, despite a 9-11 overall record. The Mustangs have won two matches in a row, beating UC Santa Barbara and CSUN. Jennifer Keddy leads the league in both hitting percentage and kills per set in conference matches, while Kristina Graven is just behind her in second place in kills per set at 4.58 and 4.19 kills per set respectively.
Long Beach State vs. the Mustangs
Long Beach State lost both matches last season, including the last meeting at Cal Poly, but won the first tilt this season to set the all-time series record at 36-17 in favor of the 49ers. Delainey Aigner-Swesey had a huge match in the first meeting between the teams, finishing with 29 kills in a five-set victory in the Walter Pyramid while the 49ers played without senior Caitlin Ledoux.
Scouting UC Santa Barbara
UC Santa Barbara is currently in a three-way tie with Cal State Fullerton and Cal Poly for second place in the Big West at 4-3, one game behind the 49ers in the loss column at 6-2. Senior Stacey Schmidt leads the Gauchos at 2.88 kills per set, while also making 1.50 digs and 0.90 blocks per set. Leah Sully also averages 2.88 kills per set.
Long Beach State vs. the Gauchos
In a great rivalry throughout the history of the Big West, Long Beach State holds 58-36 lead in the all-time series dating back to 1965. Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara split the season series back in 2010, as the 49ers won in the Walter Pyramid but gave up a 2-0 sets lead on the road in the Thunderdome in a 31-33, 15-25, 25-19, 25-21, 15-11 loss to the Gauchos last seeason in a thrilling match. In this season's first meeting, which also went five sets, Long Beach State struggled with the absence of Caitlin Ledoux and hit just .135 in a 19-25, 25-18, 23-25, 25-23, 15-11 loss.
Block Party
One season after ranking eighth nationally in blocking, the 49ers are back at it in 2011. After finishing third in the nation in 2010, Haleigh Hampton ranks first nationally at 1.64 blocks per set, which is also the best in the Big West. Freshman Alma Serna is also joining the party, ranking third in the Big West and 35th nationally, averaging 1.26 blocks per set. The 49ers are leading the conference in all matches, averaging 3.11 blocks per set. Long Beach State also is currently fourth in the nation in blocking as a team, behind Washington, Stanford, and Florida State.
Ledoux-ing It
Despite missing nearly a month to injury, Senior Caitlin Ledoux has increased her career kills total to 1,444, passing current USA National Team member Tayyiba Haneef for sixth place in the career kills list for Long Beach State. Next up is another 49er great, Cheryl Weaver, at 1,500 kills. Her 988 career digs are also just outside the Long Beach State Top 10 in a career. Ledoux can become just the fifth 49er to reach 1,000 career kills and digs. Ledoux also hit 400 kills in one season for a second time in 2010, and set a season-best with 464 kills over the course of the season last year.
