Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
10-7, 4-0BWC
UC Santa Barbara
10-6, 1-2BWC
Beach Women's Volleyball Earns Sweep Over UC Santa Barbara
10/1/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 1, 2016
Long Beach, Calif. - Long Beach State improved its winning streak to a season-long four matches on Saturday night, picking up another sweep at Walter Pyramid. The Beach (10-7, 4-0 Big West) got stronger as the match went on, earning a 28-26, 25-22, 25-18 sweep of visiting UC Santa Barbara (10-6, 1-2 Big West).
Freshman middle blocker YiZhi Xue tied for the team-high with 12 kills on .556 hitting. That's a new career high in kills for Xue, who had five in each of the last two sets. Nele Barber recorded another double-double (her 12th of the season) with 12 kills and a match-high 19 digs. Ashley Murray added 10 kills and Peyton Grahovac chipped in nine. Missy Owens led the offense with 42 assists, 10 digs and a pair of aces.
Barber got off to another solid start with six kills and six digs in the first game. The Beach needed every bit of it as the teams were locked in a very even battle. There were 16 ties in the first set, including runs of every point from 12-18 and 20-26. Eventually, after surviving three set points, LBSU was able to score the final three points of the set, capping it off with a Barber kill off the block.
The Beach continued to display a balanced offense in set two, getting at least four kills from four different players, led by Xue's five on just six swings. The Beach got breathing room up 12-8 after a 4-0 run, and led by as many as five in the set at 15-10. Xue put the exclamation point on the win with a thunderous spike in the middle to send the Beach to the locker room up 2-0.
LBSU kept the Gauchos at a distance in the third, hitting .325 as a team led by six kills from Barber and five more from Xue. Working with an 18-16 lead, the Beach closed the set on a 7-2 run with three Barber kills and a pair from Xue, including the match-clinching point.
Next week, LBSU hits the road for a match at UC Riverside on Wednesday before a huge showdown with No. 13 Hawai'i. With both teams still unbeaten in Big West play, that match will likely be for first place in the Big West at this early stage of the season. That match at Walter Pyramid will be an 8 p.m. start and the match can be seen live on Fox Sports Prime Ticket.
