Long Beach State Travels to Hawaii for Friday Contest

Friday, October 12

Manoa, Hawaii

10:00 PM

Long Beach State University

Hawai'i

Photo by: John Fajardo

10/10/2018 12:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

LBSU's lone match of the week takes place on Oct. 12 at 10 p.m. (PST)

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

Match #20
Long Beach State at Hawaii
Date: Friday, October 12
Time: 10 p.m. (PST)

Arena: Stan Sheriff Center
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Live Stats: StatBroadcast.com
Listen: 22WestMedia.com
Watch: BigWest.TV
Twitter: @LBSU_WVB

Complete LBSU Match Notes (PDF)

Long Beach State Travels to Hawaii for Friday Contest
The Long Beach State women's volleyball team will travel to the islands this week as the Beach will take on Hawaii on Friday, October 12. First serve is slated for 10 p.m. (PT).

About The Beach
• Long Beach State heads into the match at Hawaii with an 11-8 overall record.
• The Beach are 3-3 in Big West action.
• Last week, LBSU split a pair of four-set decisions, falling to UC Irvine on Friday night before bouncing back with a win over UC Davis on Saturday.
• Long Beach State leads the league in blocks per set with 2.44, which puts the Beach in the top 50 in the nation. LBSY is strong at the net as Emma Kirst (1.11 blocks per set) and YiZhi Xue (1.08 blocks per set) are ranked No. 1 and 3 in the league.
• The Beach have been hot at the service line this season racking up 115 service aces on the year thus far. Hailey Harward has paced LBSU with 0.49 aces per set to rank second in the conference and 16th in the nation.
• In addition to leading the team in aces, Harward also sets the tone offensively with 2.65 kills per set. Behind her are Kashauna Williams (2.61) and Tyler Spriggs (2.60).
• Spriggs had a career night against UC Davis as she spouted off a career-high 23 kills on .417 hitting to lead Long Beach State to a four-set victory. She also addeda career-best five blocks, while contributing a pair of service aces.
• Adding to LBSU's hot hitting is Allison Martinez. The freshman from Montebello, Calif., has been consistent offensively as she owns an attack percentage of .335 which not only leads the team, but is good for third in the league. Joining Martinez in the top 10 is YiZhi Xue who is sixth in the conference with a .319 attack percentage.
• Carly Aigner-Swesey and Mina Andjelkovic are splitting time at setter this season. Aigner-Swesey is averaging 7.95 assists per set, while Andjelkovic owns a 4.73 assists per set clip.
• At libero, Carly Hill has been pacing the defense with 3.98 digs per set to rank seventh in the Big West.

Getting Social
Follow Long Beach State women's volleyball on Twitter at @LBSU_WVB and on Instagram at @LBSU_womensvb. You can also stay up-to-date on all things Long Beach State by following @LBSUAthletics on Twitter. Be sure to "like" us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram at @LBSU. And don't forget our hashtags #GoBeach and #LBNation.

Scouting the Rainbow Wahine
• Hawaii enters the match against the Beach with a 9-6 overall record.
• The Rainbow Wahine are 5-1 in Big West Conference play as the kicked off league action on a five-match winning streak. However, Hawaii suffered its first loss last Saturday against No. 13 Cal Poly (3-1).
• McKenna Granato is the team's leading scorer as she averages 3.41 kills per set, while adding 2.54 digs per set. She also leads the team with 24 service aces (0.43 per set).
• Faith Ma'afala and Norene Iosia platoon at setter with Ma'afala leading the way with 6.82 assists per set and Iosia adding 4.64 helpers per set. Iosia is also second on the squad with 3.14 digs per set coming in behine Tita Akiu's 4.73 digs per set.
• Natasha Burns sets the tone at the net with 47 total blocks for an average of 1.04 per set.

Series vs. Hawaii
Long Beach State and Hawaii will meet for the 53rd time in program history. The Rainbow Wahine hold the all-time series lead with a record of 32-19-1 over the Beach. Hawaii has won the last three meetings against LBSU, as the Beach look to collect their first win over the Rainbow Wahine since 2016 and their first road win at Hawaii since 2014.

Leader of the Pack
Long Beach State has been solid on blocking defense this season as the Beach have posted 183.0 blocks this season for an average of 2.44 blocks per set. LBSU's blocks per set average is tops in the Big West Conference and is good for 50th in the nation. With the Beach leading the league in blocks per set, it comes as no surprise that Long Beach State's Emma Kirst and YiZhi Xue find themselves among the top three in the Big West. Kirst leads the league with 1.11 blocks per set, while Xue's 1.08 blocks per set rank her third.

Hot Hitting
Not only does freshman Allison Martinez lead Long Beach State in hitting, she also ranks third in the Big West Conference, and tops among freshman, with an attack percentage of .335. Martinez has connected on 89-of-200 swings this season, while committing just 22 attack errors. In addition to Martinez, YiZhi Xue also is in the Big West top 10 as her clip of .319 (124-33-285) is good for sixth in the league.

Aces Wild
Junior Hailey Harward has been on fire from the service line all season. Harward has racked up a team- and conference-leading 35 aces thus far for an average of 0.49 which ranks her second in the league. Additionally, her aces per set mark ranks her 16th in the nation. Earlier this season, Harward racked up a career-high seven aces in Long Beach State's five-set win over Texas Tech. Her seven aces tie her for third in the LBSU single-game record book.

Up Next
Long Beach State returns to the mainland with a busy schedule on tap. The Beach host Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday, October 16 at 7 p.m., before hosting UC Santa Barbara and No. 12 Cal Poly on Friday and Saturday, respectively. All three matches are set for 7 p.m.