Volleyball begins three-game road stretch this weekend

9/26/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Sept. 26, 2011

Long Beach, Calif. -

Complete Women's Volleyball Weekly Release

Starting Out
After a split in the first weekend of Big West Conference play, Long Beach State hits the road for three matches in the next week and a half. The roadie starts at Cal State Northridge on Friday, Sept. 30, and then the 49ers will head east to Riverside to face UC Riverside on Saturday, Oct. 1. After the weekend, the 49ers will get a quick breather, and will then play two days later at UC Irvine on Tuesday, Oct. 4. All three matches will begin at 7 p.m., and live audio coverage will be available through www.longbeachstate.com.

Home Openers
Long Beach State picked up a hard-fought split in a grueling first weekend of Big West action that saw the 49ers host two conference contenders right off of the bat in UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly. The 49ers played five sets in both matches, falling in five to the Gauchos but holding off a pair of Mustang match points to defeat Cal Poly 16-14 in the final set on Saturday.

Delainey's Big Day
Sophomore Delainey Aigner-Swesey had a breakout performance against Cal Poly to help the 49ers record a very important win. A Big West All-Freshman team selection last season in her normal starting position on the right side, Aigner-Swesey was called on to make a switch after Friday's loss, moving from the right side to the left as a new replacement for Caitlin Ledoux. Aigner-Swesey, who had taken at most 26 swings from the right side, took 63 on Saturday and made 29 total kills to lead the 49ers in the win. Freshman Bre Mackie took Delainey's spot on the right, and found some success there as well, making seven kills and handing out six assists in her first day in the position.

Scouting CS Northridge
Picked to finish eighth in the Big West, Cal State Northridge started off the conference season with a win over UC Riverside last weekend and will host Long Beach State and CS Fullerton unbeaten in league. Mahina Haina leads the Matadors with 3.24 kills per set, and ranks eighth in the league in kills. She also hit .393 against UCR, which leads all hitters in conference play in the infancy of the league season.

Long Beach State vs. the Matadors
While Long Beach State holds a 45-19 overall lead in the all-time series with Cal State Northridge, and a 17-5 mark under Brian Gimmillaro, the Matadors have had Long Beach State's number recently in Northridge. CSUN has won the last three meetings in the Matadome, with two five-set wins in 2008 and 2009 before winning in four last year. Michelle Osunbor had 14 kills, but with Caitlin Ledoux ailing and Haleigh Hampton out, the Matadors rode 21 kills from Natalie Allen for the win.

Scouting UC Riverside
After going 2-30 in 2010, UC Riverside has already made steps towards improvement, winning three matches in 2011, including an upset over Loyola Marymount. Amanda Vialpando carries the load for the Highlanders, averaging 3.83 kills per set and making 203 total on the year. She also ranks second on the team in digs, averaging 2.75 per set for the Highlanders.

Long Beach State vs. the Highlanders
Long Beach State has only lost to UCR three times, and holds a 33-3 all-time record having won 15 in a row. However, Long Beach State had a very close call in Riverside last year, finally prevailing in five sets 23-25, 25-17, 25-18, 26-28, 18-16 in an exciting match. Long Beach State's win came from the National Player of the Week that week, setter Ashley Lee, who recorded an extremely rare quadruple-double with 10 kills, 13 digs, 10 blocks, and 50 assists. Ledoux led the way offensively for the 49ers with 21 kills, while Shelby LeDuff had 19 kills for the Highlanders.

Youth Movement
Long Beach State has one of the youngest teams in the nation in 2011 despite its place in the Top 25. Senior libero Lauren Minkel is the only one of Long Beach State's current roration that has more than one full year of experience on the floor, and five freshman are currently playing in the regular rotation in middle blocker Alma Serna, outside hitter Bre Mackie, setter Erin Juley, and two DS players in Tyler Jackson and Chelsea Cabrajac. Long Beach State ranks in a tie for fourth in the nation in the number of freshman and sophomores on the team with 13 in total.

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 is once again in third place at 1.60 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 37th nationally, averaging 1.28 blocks per set. The 49ers are leading the conference in all matches, averaging 3.07 blocks per set. Long Beach State also is currently second in the nation in blocking as a team, only behind BYU at 3.16 blocks per set.

Dual Threat
Junior Janisa Johnson is a true double-threat on the floor, leading the 49ers in both total digs and kills this season. Johnson averages over three per set in each category, digging 165 balls for a 3.51 per set average, while making 144 kills for a 3.06 per set average. She also has picked up a double-double in all four matches with ranked teams this season, and has eight in 12 matches so far in 2011. Combining her two years as a starter, Johnson has 506 kills and 578 digs, and has ranked in the Top 10 in the Big West in both categories over the last two seasons.