Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
17-9, 11-2BWC
CSUN
9-17, 5-9BWC
LBSU Women's Volleyball Sweeps CSUN
11/12/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 12, 2016
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - Making its first appearance in over a week, Long Beach State (17-9, 11-2 Big West) women's volleyball picked up a comfortable 25-19, 25-14, 25-20 win over CSUN (9-17, 5-9 Big West) at the Matadome on Saturday night. Yesterday was the originally scheduled date for this contest, but it was moved back to accommodate a scheduling conflict.
Keeping up her consistent play, senior Nele Barber recorded 15 kills and 13 digs for her 18th double-double of the season. All told, Barber had match highs in kills, digs, aces (3) and solo blocks (1). Helping Barber carry the load offensively was Ashley Murray, who had nine kills on .467 hitting. Working the ball around the court was sophomore setter Missy Owens, who had 34 assists, seven digs and three successful dumps.
In set one, the teams were even in the early going and remained tied at 17-17. Led by Murray, the Beach pulled away with a 3-0 run, getting a kill and an ace from their junior middle to force a CSUN timeout. Spurred by that run, LBSU closed out the set scoring eight of the final 10 points. On YiZhi Xue's monster kill in the middle, the Beach took a 1-0 lead in the match with a 25-19 set win.
Not much changed at the start of the second set as Long Beach raced out to a 13-4 advantage. Included in that run were consecutive aces from Hailey Harward, who served a 4-0 run. Service runs were commonplace in the third as Murray served five straight and Rachel Nieto served six in a row from behind the line. Closing out the set was Anete Brinke, who put away a fastball to send the Beach to the locker room with a 2-0 lead. Harward also added an accidental kill in the set from the back row, encapsulating how things went offensively. In that second set, LBSU hit .417 while holding CSUN to just .107.
Leading 2-0, the Beach came out of intermission looking for a sweep, but CSUN wouldn't go quietly. LBSU finally got some breathing room at 14-11, thanks to a 4-0 run. A Barber kill and an ace started the key run, and eventually the Beach took its largest lead of the set at 23-16. Finishing off the match was Brinke, who put away her fifth kill of the night to give the 49ers the sweep.
The Beach stays on the road next Friday, visiting Cal State Fullerton for a 7 p.m. match. Next Saturday will be Senior Night at Walter Pyramid as the Beach hosts UC Riverside at 7 p.m. The Beach's lone senior, Barber, will be celebrated at the match as the 49ers close out their conference schedule.
