Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
14-7, 8-0
UC Santa Barbara
12-9, 3-5
Long Beach State Comes Back to Stun UCSB in Five
10/21/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Santa Barbara, Calif. - For the first time this season, Long Beach State (14-7, 8-0 Big West) erased a 2-0 deficit to come back and win in five sets. The Beach fell behind on the road at UC Santa Barbara (12-9, 3-5 Big West), but righted the ship for a thrilling 21-25, 22-25, 25-15, 25-21, 15-13 win to remain unbeaten in Big West play. LBSU is now 6-1 in five-set matches this season and, perhaps more notably, now 1-6 when trailing 2-0 in a match.
Nele Barber was outstanding once again, leading the 49ers with 22 kills to match her season high. The senior also added 12 digs to record a double-double, but her most impressive stat of the night was her .442 hitting percentage as she committed just three errors on 43 attempts.
Sophomore Megan Kruidhof set a new career high with 13 kills on the outside, and also recorded her second career double-double with a season-best 11 digs. Freshman Hailey Harward led the Beach with 18 digs, and Missy Owens dished out 45 assists with 13 digs and two solo blocks.
The first two sets did not go to plan for the Beach as UC Santa Barbara hit a combined .311 in the first two frames and had a whopping seven service aces to LBSU's zero.
Things changed after intermission, however, as LBSU outhit the Gauchos .440-to-.000 in the third game. That third set was close with the Beach leading 14-13, but that's when the 49ers went to work. Ashley Murray had four kills on four swings in the third to lead the offense, and Long Beach closed the set on an 11-2 run, finishing with a service ace from Owens. Interestingly enough, every one of the first three sets ended on an ace.
With the teams locked up 8-8 in the fourth, the Beach went on a 5-0 run and never trailed again. Barber had six kills in the fourth, leading the Beach to a crucial win. Owens was very active defensively, recording nine digs in the fourth set alone. A Kruidhof kill, which was originally ruled wide of the antenna but overturned and called in, was the final point in the 25-21 win.
LBSU again came through in the decisive game, playing its seventh fifth set of the season while UCSB was playing just its second. The teams tied at every point from 1-6, until LBSU went up 8-6 at the switch to force a UCSB timeout. A 3-0 Gauchos run put the home team up 12-11 and caused LBSU to call timeout, but the Beach responded.
The Beach took the lead back at 13-12 on a kill by Kruidhof, which was set up by a huge dig from freshman Morgan Dewyer. UCSB tied the match at 13-all after a timeout, but the Beach won the final two points for the win. Fittingly, it was Kruidhof's kill that set up match point and Barber's monster spike on the outside to end it.
It's a quick turnaround for the 49ers as they head north to face Cal Poly on Saturday at 7 p.m.
