Long Beach State Drops 3-1 Contest to UC Irvine

Friday, October 5

Long Beach, Calif.

7:00 PM

Long Beach State University

10-8 (2-3Big West)

UC Irvine

9-7 (3-1Big West)

UC Irvine

Long Beach State

10/5/2018 10:19:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Kashauna Williams and YiZhi Xue reach double-figures in set back

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

WATCH: Hear what head coach Joy McKienzie-Fuerbringer, Megan Kruidhof, and Hailey Harward had to say about today's setback against UC Irvine #GoBeach #LBNation https://t.co/pLx5B6JLse via @LBSUAthletics
— LBSU W. Volleyball (@LBSU_WVB) October 6, 2018

Box Score (PDF)

LONG BEACH – The Long Beach State women's volleyball team came up short in a 3-1 [25-19, 17-25, 22-15, 22-15] decision to UC Irvine on Friday night inside the Walter Pyramid.
The Beach drop to 10-8 overall and 2-3 in Big West action, while the Anteaters improve to 9-7 on the year and 3-1 in league play.

Long Beach State was led offensively by Kashauna Williams and YiZhi Xue as the duo combined for 27 kills. Williams was one kill shy of her career-high as she tallied 15 on .462 hitting (15-3-26), while Xue added 12 kills with a .391 attack percentage (12-3-23).

Carly Aigner-Swesey dished out 34 assists to help the Beach to a .219 attack percentage, while Mina Andjelkovic added nine helpers.

Defensively, Carly Hill and Hailey Harward contributed 11 and 10 digs, respectively, while Emma Kirst led the squad with five blocks.

The Beach started off strong as they hit .391 in the first set and recorded six of their eight aces in the frame. Harward recorded three aces to highlight an early 6-1 run by Long Beach State. The Beach used that run to jump out in front as they led the rest of the way. The Beach would go on to win the first set on back-to-back aces by Hill.

The Anteaters, however, heated up in the second set and kept the Beach off balance as UC Irvine never allowed Long Beach State to claim a lead. The 'Eaters would go on to even the match at one set a piece with a 25-17 win over the Beach.

The third set was back and forth as the two teams battled through a few ties before UC Irvine broke a 22-22 tie and closed out the frame on a 3-0 run to win 25-22.

Down two sets to one, Long Beach State battled in the fourth set and the conference foes exchanged leads five times before UC Irvine took a 22-21 lead late in the game. The Anteaters pushed it to match point, 24-21, and the Beach got a kill from Williams to keep them in the game. However, a kill off the hands of UCI's Idara Akpakpa would end the match, 25-22.

UC Irvine had four players in double-figures led by Loryn Carter who had 13 kills. Akpakpa finished the match with nine total blocks for the 'Eaters.

Long Beach State looks to bounce back on Saturday, October 6 when it hosts UC Davis at 7 p.m. inside the Walter Pyramid. The match will be on ESPN3.