Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
18-4, 8-0Big West
UC Davis
10-11, 5-3Big West
Winning Streak Reaches Eight As The Beach Wins In Four
10/25/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
LONG BEACH, Calif. - A season-long winning streak continued growing on Saturday as the Long Beach State women's volleyball team defeated visiting UC Davis in four sets. The Beach (18-4, 8-0 Big West) completed a perfect trip through the first round of Big West play with the 25-21, 17-25, 25-22, 25-20 victory.
Long Beach State's winning streak is up to eight matches this year. The four-set win over the second-place Aggies (10-11, 5-3 Big West) was its 13th Big West win dating back to last season. It was also the seventh win in a row for the Beach in the Pyramid.
LBSU's middle blockers led the attacking effort as Chisom Okpala and Ashley Murray combined for 18 kills on 35 total swings. Okpala had 11 of those kills on .450 hitting while Murray hit .400 with seven kills. Okpala also had three total blocks and Murray had four. Outside hitter Alex Reid also had 11 kills to lead the Beach alongside Okpala.
Setter Jenelle Hudson also put up an impressive stat line in leading the Beach to a .252 hitting percentage in the match. She had 40 assists and 12 digs for her 10th double-double of the season to along with four kills and a solo block.
Her solo stuff was one of 9.5 team blocks for the Beach compared to 10 blocks from the Aggies. Hudson's block came in a crucial situation as she turned away Allie Wegener's attack to clinch the third set for the Beach and give her team the leg up in the match.
LBSU captured the first set after limiting UC Davis to a .147 hitting percentage in the first. Both teams proved to be tough on the defensive end of the net as both sides strung together highlight reels of diving digs and scrambling saves. Tyler Jackson led the Beach effort in the back row with 20 digs - seven of which came in the first set.
During her big opening set, Jackson also leapfrogged Misty May-Treanor in the record book for career digs. Jackson needed just five to pass May-Treanor for fifth all-time and came up with 20 in the match, giving her 1,295 in her career.
With the Beach up a set in the match, both attacks started lighting up the scoreboard with greater efficiency. The Aggies hit .429 in the set and the Beach hit .308. However, UC Davis applied the service pressure with five of its eight aces in the set. Kaylin Squyres had three of those five and slammed down seven of her match-high 18 kills. Squyres hit .113 in the match.
Aima Eichie also had a big set in helping the Aggies tie up the match with four of her nine total blocks coming in the Aggie win.
After the break, Long Beach State jumped out early and never looked back. However, UC Davis put up a fight and nearly snuck away with the lead. The Beach built a 15-8 lead only to see its advantage cut to a single point after Eichie and Kendall Walbrecht combined for a block to make it 16-15. Bre Mackie ended the run with a kill and the beach went on to a 21-15 lead.
Again the lead withered down to a point as Squyres fourth ace of the match found the floor to make the score 21-20. Okpala momentarily put the Beach back up by two but the Aggies fought back to tie the set at 22-22. Two consecutive errors on the Aggies set up set point for the Beach and Hudson's block gave advantage back to the Beach.
Looking to complete its perfect round through the Big West, LBSU built a 10-5 lead in the fourth set and kept UC Davis at arm's length the rest of the way. The 49ers hit .343 in the fourth with five of Murray's kills coming in the deciding set. Bukovec also slammed three kills, including the final two of the match to win it for the Beach.
Long Beach State returns to Walter Pyramid on Thursday for an exhibition match with Zhejiang - a Chinese professional team. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. The second round of the Big West schedule begins at CSUN next Saturday at 7 p.m.
