Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
5-5
UCLA
9-1
Long Beach State Falls in Four vs. No. 11 UCLA
9/14/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 14, 2016
Long Beach, Calif. - Leading 23-21 in set four, Long Beach State was on the verge of forcing a fifth game against No. 11 UCLA on Wednesday night at Walter Pyramid. Unfortunately, the visiting Bruins scored the final four points of the night to grab set four and the match from the Beach, 25-17, 21-25, 25-20, 25-23. LBSU falls to 5-5 on the season after a second straight loss, while UCLA earns its second win in as many days to improve to 9-1.
Nele Barber was again a bright spot for the 49ers, recording her seventh double-double of the season and her fourth in a row. The defending AVCA Player of the Week led the Beach with 12 kills and added 17 digs and a pair of solo roofs. Mykah Wilson had a team-high 18 digs and Anete Brinke and Hailey Harward each had nine kills and 15 digs on the night.
UCLA took set one in large part due to a 6-0 run in the middle of the game. An ace from Megan Kruidhof tied the set at 9-all, but the Bruins rattled off six straight as the Beach used both of its timeouts. LBSU never got closer than four points the rest of the way, ultimately losing the set on a net error.
The Beach sprinted out to a 3-0 lead in set two, but things were even throughout with 12 ties and eight lead changes in the frame. LBSU was able to score six of the final seven points in the set to turn a 20-19 deficit into a 25-21 win. UCLA committed 10 errors in the set, and the 49ers capitalized, holding the visitors to just .078 hitting in set two. Barber had four kills, five digs and both her solo blocks in game two.
After intermission, UCLA struck early in set three to take a 7-1 advantage. LBSU battled back to make it 7-5, but never got closer than that as the UCLA defense was too much to overcome. The Bruins held Long Beach to its lowest output of the night in set three (.026 hitting) to take a 2-1 edge in the match.
Long Beach got its block going in set four, recording five roofs to keep things competitive. Back-to-back blocks from Brinke and Ashley Murray put the Beach up 12-9 and force a UCLA timeout. Murray later recorded consecutive kills to make it a 19-17 Beach lead. A Bruin hitting error gave LBSU that 23-21 lead, but Reily Buechler made her presence felt, recording two kills and a match-ending block in the decisive 4-0 run.
LBSU will hit the road for five straight matches away from Walter Pyramid. The Beach plays two matches Friday at the University of San Diego: vs. San Jose State at Noon and at the host Toreros at 7 p.m. Long Beach State ends the week with a 2:30 p.m. match at San Diego State.
