Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
1-1
Texas Tech
0-2
Beach Bounces Back, Sweeps Texas Tech
8/27/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Portland, Ore. - Long Beach State (1-1) looked like a whole new team on Saturday afternoon in Portland, picking up its first win of the 2016 season in impressive fashion, a 25-16, 25-16, 25-23 sweep of Texas Tech (0-2). The Beach hit .404 as a team while holding the Red Raiders to a .198 clip. Sophomore Peyton Grahovac hit a career-best .647 with 12 kills on 17 swings and senior Nele Barber posted her second double-double of the season with 14 kills and 10 digs.
The Beach never trailed in the match, and there were just four tie scores as the Beach made quick work of the Red Raiders. LBSU had five players hit .333 or better—Grahovac (.647), YiZhi Xue (.444), Barber (.417), Missy Owens (.375) and Ashley Murray (.333)—and the Beach never hit lower than that mark in any set. Owens was in much better rhythm with her hitters on Saturday, dishing out 37 assists while adding eight digs and seven kills (all career highs) plus two aces. Freshman libero Hailey Harward led the team with 11 digs and chipped in five assists and two aces as well.
Long Beach stormed out to a set one win by hitting .500 in the opening frame, with six different players recording two or more kills. A 7-1 Long Beach run closed out the win and brought momentum into the second set.
The 49ers scored the first three points of set two and eventually led 17-8 after a 4-0 run. The largest lead was 11 at 22-11 and the Beach cruised to the finish line with Barber putting away the final kill of the frame. That was fitting, as Barber dominated the second set. The senior outside hitter had seven kills on nine error-free swings in the second, plus added four digs and a pair of blocks (one solo).
Set three was more competitive, but Long Beach still led from start to finish. Grahovac had a kill on the first point of the third, finishing the set with six kills on eight attempts without an error. The Beach led by as many as six points, most notably at 23-17, but Texas Tech made some noise late in the game. The Red Raiders went on a 6-1 run to pull within 24-23, but Brian Gimmillaro trusted his team and did not use a timeout. Ultimately, the third match point was a charm as Barber put away the final kill to polish off the sweep.
LBSU has a quick turnaround before its second match of the day, at 6 p.m. against Colorado (1-1). The Buffaloes have split a pair of five-set matches so far at the Portland State Tournament, defeating Texas Tech on Friday night then falling to the host Vikings on Saturday morning.
