Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
6-5, 0-1Big West
UC Santa Barbara
8-5, 1-0Big West
49ers fall in five sets to UC Santa Barbara
9/23/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 23, 2011
Long Beach, Calif. - Freshman setter Erin Juley nearly had a triple-double, setting career highs with eight kills and 13 digs to go with 31 assists, but UC Santa Barbara held on late in five sets to upset Long Beach State 19-25, 25-18, 23-25, 25-23, 15-11 on Friday night.
Trailing 9-7 in the final set, Long Beach State got a spark from junior Libby Fontanilla, who entered the match and sparked a turnaround with two straight kills to tie the set at 9-9. Fontanilla made one more to force a final tie at 10-10, but the Gauchos scored two straight to force a timeout, and won the set 15-11 to steal the match away from the 49ers.
Long Beach State benefitted from 17 service errors by the Gauchos, but struggled at times offensively, as Johnson led the 49ers with 13 kills overall. Long Beach State finished with just 50 in the entire match, and the Gauchos outhit the 49ers .188 to .135 on the night. Long Beach State had a solid defensive effort, led by Johnson who had 24 digs, while Lauren Minkel and Tyler Jackson also each finished with double-digit digs.
UCSB took a quick start in the first set, opening up a 7-4 lead after an attack error from the 49ers. Long Beach State was able to pull even at 7-7 with a block from Alma Serna and Johnson. The 49ers were able to take their first lead in the set at 12-11, and continued to push to hold onto the lead the rest of the way. A third block in the set gave the 49ers a 15-12 lead, and an ace from Johnson capped a push to 21-15 that brought LBSU to a 25-19 win.
The Gauchos again took an early lead in the second set, pushing to 8-4 before a 49ers sideout, and taking a five point lead at 10-5 on a block from Leah Sully. 8-4 Gauchos push before 49ers sideout. Long Beach State worked their way back into the set, pulling from six points down to 16-10 to within two at 16-14 on a Johnson kill. A UC Santa Barbara error allowed the 49ers to pull within one at 17-16, but trailing 20-18, the Gauchos won five straight points to take the third set by a 25-18 margin.
Haleigh Hampton started the third set with a big kill, and while the Gauchos took a brief 4-3 lead, Long Beach State took the early advantage with a 9-6 lead following a kill from Juley. The Gauchos forced a tie at 15-15, but Long Beach State earned back their cushion with a block from Serna and Delainey Aigner-Swesey. After winning a long rally to lead 22-19, Long Beach State held on to take a two sets to one lead at 25-23.
An Erin Juley solo block started a big run for the 49ers to start the set with a 5-0 lead for Long Beach State. UC Santa Barbara answered back after a timeout however, tying the set at 6-6 and it was a battle the rest of the way with seven ties. Long Beach State managed to hold on to the lead most of the way, but an error from the 49ers led to a 21-20 edge for the Gauchos, and UCSB took the set 25-23 after a kill from Stacey Schmidt.
Long Beach State continues its first weekend of conference play tomorrow night, when the 49ers host Cal Poly. That match will begin at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24.
