Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
5-3
Pepperdine
5-3
Long Beach State Outlasts Pepperdine for Third Straight Win
9/10/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 10, 2016
Long Beach, Calif. - With a quick turnaround from last night's five-set win over Duke, Long Beach State proved to have enough in the tank on Saturday morning at Walter Pyramid. The Beach came back from a 2-1 deficit for the second straight day, earning a 25-17, 23-25, 17-25, 25-21, 15-10 victory over visiting Pepperdine. It's the third straight win for the 49ers, which improves their overall record to 5-3. Pepperdine falls to 5-3 with the loss.
Nele Barber was spectacular from the outset and put up impressive numbers once again. The senior outside hitter had a match-high 22 kills to set a new season best, and paired that with 19 digs. That's the fifth double-double of the season for Barber, who now has 28 in her LBSU career. Barber is also the last 49er to have a 20-20 match, and finished just one dig shy on Saturday.
Joining Barber in double figures was Ashley Murray with 12 kills and Anete Brinke with 11. Brinke also recorded a double-double, the first of her career, thanks to 14 digs on the match. In total, the Beach had five players with 10+ digs, led by 20 from a highly effective Mykah Wilson at libero. Wilson finished just one dig short of her career high and the Beach posted a season-high 83 digs as a team, crushing the previous high of 62.
The first set belonged to Barber, who was perfect with eight kills on eight swings. She also added five digs and a pair of blocks as the Beach got rolling and didn't stop. Trailing 8-5, the Beach went on a 10-1 run to grab control of the game, and Barber was right at the center of it, recording three kills and two blocks in that stretch. LBSU led by as many as 10 at 23-13 and eventually closed out the frame on a Barber kill from the back row.
Set two was even throughout, and Long Beach was in a position to win it after Missy Owens' solo roof gave the hosts a 22-21 lead. The Waves took a timeout following that point and responded with a 3-0 run to earn set point. The Waves eventually closed things out on a kill by Heidi Dyer and evened the match heading to the locker room.
The Waves were in control of the third game, starting with a 7-2 lead. It was Pepperdine going wire-to-wire in the set, holding the Beach to just .026 hitting.
LBSU was able to re-focus in the fourth and a key 5-0 run turned a 10-9 Beach lead into a 15-9 edge. The defense was strong from the 49ers, who recorded 23 digs in set four, led by seven from Wilson and six from Barber. Eventually it was a spike from Murray that forced a decisive fifth set.
Pepperdine started out front in set five, winning four of the first five points, but the Beach responded well. Murray had back-to-back kills, then an error by the Waves tied the match at 5-all. A Hailey Harward kill gave LBSU its first lead at 6-5 and forced a Pepperdine timeout. After the Waves took a 7-6 lead on an ace, the Beach went on a 3-0 run to claim a two-point edge, one that the hosts would never relinquish.
What became a 7-1 run for Long Beach State gave the 49ers a commanding 13-8 lead. From there, a dump from Owens and a net error by Pepperdine gave the Beach the final two points in a 15-10 win in set five.
LBSU returns to action Saturday night to face Arizona State. First serve at Walter Pyramid is set for 6 p.m.
