No. 5 Beach Volleyball Finishes Regular Season Thursday

4/18/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Beach Volleyball

April 18, 2017

Long Beach, Calif. - No. 5 Long Beach State will finish the regular season on Thursday with a tri-dual, facing CSU Bakersfield at noon before playing the hosts, No. 1 USC at 2 p.m. in Los Angeles. Long Beach State's match with USC will be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks.

Long Beach State (23-5) will face CSU Bakersfield (1-12) for the third time this season to open up Thursday's action. The Beach has won five out of their last six matches, and won both of their previous meetings with CSUB 5-0.

The Beach will then get to take their best shot at knocking off undefeated and top-ranked USC (25-0). Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes took their first loss in two years in the top flight to Saint Mary's, but the other Trojan pairs won as USC has now won 55 straight matches.

Long Beach State will have an excellent opportunity, however, with three pairs that have won over 20 matches and two more approaching the mark. Jenelle Hudson and Megan Kruidhof have the best winning percentage on the year, as they are 22-3 overall on the year. Long Beach State's top flight pair of Nele Barber and Rachel Nieto also have 22 wins at 22-6, while Sasha Karelov and Kobi Pekich enter Thursday with a 21-7 record together. With a pair of wins, Morea Wagner and Heather Weiss could join that group, entering this week with an 18-8 record.

Big West Pairs Team of the Week Anete Brinke and Hailey Harward will look to continue their run of success Thursday as well. The duo won at No. 3 against Cal Poly, before moving up a slot for the first time and winning against LMU at No. 2 as the Beach held off the Lions on the road with a 3-2 win.

The Beach has not lost a match to a lower-ranked opponent this season, which bodes well for the team's run in to the postseason. With only wins over their conference competition in 2017, Long Beach State looks to be the top seed in next week's Big West Tournament in Pismo Beach, hosted by Cal Poly.

LBSU will have a first-round bye in that tournament, which will once again be in a double-elimination format. No. 6 Hawai'i was last year's champion in the first year of the competition, and the rivalry will be renewed next weekend.

The NCAA Tournament will once again be held in Gulf Shores, Alabama, running for three days from May 5-7. The selection show will announce the field on Sunday, April 30, which will feature eight teams, with three guaranteed from the West region, and three guaranteed from the East with two at-large berths.