Women's Volleyball Begins Season With Three Home Matches

8/25/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Aug. 25, 2015

Long Beach, Calif. - Long Beach State looks to open the 2015 season with a bang, as the 49ers host Alabama, No. 25 Duke and Saint Mary's starting on Friday in the Walter Pyramid. With the 49ers just outside the Top 25, a strong weekend should move the Beach into the rankings ahead of their trip to Boston.

Complete Women's Volleyball Game Notes

QUICK HITTERS
• Long Beach State enters the 2015 season with just two returning starters, but returns two good ones in S Jenelle Hudson and MB Ashley Murray.

• Hudson is the defending Big West Player of the Year, after guiding the 49ers to an unbeaten 16-0 mark on the way to winning the Big West championship. Hudson averaged 10.22 assists per set and led the team to .261 hitting while hitting .309 herself, averaging over a kill per set.

• Murray was named Big West Freshman of the Year after averaging 1.88 kills per set and hitting .342, while leading the team in blocking, averaging 1.21 blocks per set.

• Hudson was the eighth LBSU player to be named Big West Player of the year, joining Tara Cross, Alexis Crimes, Nichelle Burton, Cheryl Weaver, Antoinette White, Danielle Scott, and three-time Gold Medalist Misty May. She also joined May as just the second Beach setter to •earn the conference's top honor.

• Head Coach Brian Gimmillaro also earned Big West Coach of the Year honors for the 2014 season. Recording 27 wins and leading the Beach to the NCAA Tournament for the 27th time, Gimmillaro has been named the Big West Coach of the Year nine times in his career.

• Gimmillaro is also 11 wins away from a significant career milestone, as the 31st year skipper will likely reach 800 career Division I wins this season. Gimmillaro would become just the sixth active coach to reach that total all within Division I, and fourth to record each win at the same institution.

TRANSFER TALENT
• Long Beach State welcomes two Division I transfers who should make an immediate impact with the team in MB Hayley Benson and OH Nele Barber.

• A first-team All-MAC selection as a junior Benson hit over .300 in each of the last two seasons at Ball State, and averaged over 2.50 killls per set for Ball State.

• Barber spent the last two seasons at Marquette, averaging a consistent 2.7 kills per set over both seasons with the Golden Eagles, while playing all the way around as a sophomore and averaging 2.38 digs per set.

NEWS & NOTES FROM THE FRONT ROW
• Barber and Benson join Ashley Murray to provide a veteran presence in the front line, even though two of those players are in their first season at the Beach.

• Three freshman will also be vying for time in the front row, as Peyton Grahovac, Carly Beddingfield, and Megan Kruidhof have all impressed during the beginning of practice this season.

• The 49ers will have two players out for the season with injury, as Sherridan Atkinson and Anete Brinke were each hurt prior to the beginning of the year.

NEWS & NOTES FROM THE BACK ROW
• The 49ers return one backrow stalwart from last season in Lindsey Lawmaster, a senior who played all but one set for the Beach in her first season with the team after transferring from Minnesota. Lawmaser averaged 1.13 digs per set a season ago, and also added 12 aces for the Beach.

• Hudson also spent plenty of time on defense as well. The senior setter averaged 2.82 digs per set, second on the team behind libero Tyler Jackson. She was also second on the team in aces in 2014, finishing the season with 21.

• Just as in the front row, the back row will have a some freshmen challenging for court time, with Mykah Wilson and Sarah Miller impressing in early practices.