Long Beach State Travels to Eugene for Oregon Classic

OREGON CLASSIC

Long Beach State vs. Arkansas Pine Bluff
Date: Friday, August 31
Time: 11 a.m.

Long Beach State at #18 Oregon
Date: Friday, August 31
Time: 8 p.m.

Long Beach State vs. Utah Valley
Date: Saturday, September 1
Time: 11 a.m.

Arena: Matthew Knight Arena (12,541)
Location: Eugene, Ore.
Live Stats: Oregon.StatBroadcast.com
Live Stream: GoDucks.com/live
Twitter: @LBSU_WVB

Complete LBSU Match Notes (PDF)

Long Beach State Travels to Eugene for Oregon Classic
The Long Beach State women's volleyball team heads to Eugene, Ore., to take part in the Oregon Classic this weekend. The Beach will kick off the tournament against Arkansas Pine Bluff on Friday, August 31 at 11 a.m., before going up against No. 18 Oregon Friday night at 8 p.m. LBSU will wrap up action on Saturday, September 1 at 11 a.m. against Utah Valley.

About The Beach
• Long Beach State is looking for its third straight win after the Beach defeated Portland State and Seattle in a pair of four-set matches.
• LBSU hosted the Shanghai Pro Team in an exhibition contest Wednesday night at the Walter Pyramid and fell to the visitors in four.
• Junior middle blocker YiZhi Xue has found her stride knocking down a career-high 15-kill performance in the Beach's 3-1 win against Seattle. She also led the team at the net with a season-best seven blocks.
• Junior Hailey Harward has been playing an offensive role this season and currently leads the team with 3.12 kills per set. She has been solid on both sides of the ball averaging 2.50 digs per set to rank second on the team.
• Freshman Carly Hill has stepped up for the Beach as she anchors the defense at libero. Hill has led Long Beach State in digs in all four matches thus far, averaging 4.38 digs per set.
• At setter, the Beach have utilized both freshman Carly Aigner-Swesey and sophomore Mina Andjelkovic. Aigner-Swesey has dished out 9.50 assists per set, while Andjelkovic has distributed 5.92 helpers per set.
• The Beach were selected to finish fourth in the Big West Conference preseason poll behind Cal Poly, Hawaii, and UC Irvine.

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 Lady Lions
• Arkansas Pine Bluff comes into the Oregon Classic looking for its first win of the season as the Lady Lions are 0-3 after having suffered three sweeps to Arkansas State, Memphis, and Stephen F. Austin.
• The Lady Lions have struggled offensively to start the season, posting a .030 attack percentage.
• Kendalle Howard is the team's leading scorer as she averages 2.63 kills per set.
• Britney Sahlmann is Arkansas Pine Bluff's setter as she has dished out 42 assists for an average of 4.67 per set. Sahlmann also leads the team in digs with 2.11 per set.

Series vs. Arkansas Pine Bluff
Friday's contest marks the first meeting between the two teams.

Scouting the Ducks
• No. 18 Oregon hosts the Oregon Classic and brings a 1-2 overall record into the tournament.
• The Ducks opened the 2018 campaign with a pair of setbacks to No. 3 Texas (3-1) and at No. 2 Nebraska (3-0), before sweeping Portland State in their home opener.
• Oregon is led by Ronika Stone, a 2017 All-Pac-12 selection as she averages 3.00 kills per set.
• Lindsey Vander Weide, a 2016 Third Team All-American, lead the team offensively averaging 3.60 kills per set. She is also second on the team with 3.50 digs per set.
• August Raskie is the team's setter, who averages 12.90 assists per set, while adding 2.70 digs per set.

Series vs. Oregon
Long Beach State and Oregon will meet for the ninth time in program history and for the first time since 2006. The Beach lead the all-time series, which started in 1969, 6-2. However, the Ducks were victorious in the last meeting as they defeated LBSU in four sets at the Pyramid. When playing in Eugene, Ore., the Ducks lead the series 1-0.

Scouting the Wolverines
• Utah Valley comes into the Oregon Classic with a 2-2 overall record.
• The Wolverines opened the season with a 3-0 sweep over Holy Cross, then dropped back-to-back matches to UC Davis and Northern Arizona, before bouncing back with a 3-1 win over Idaho State.
• Kazna Tarawhiti and Kristen Allred lead the Wolverines in scoring as Tarawhiti averages 3.54 kills per set and Allred averages 3.53.
• Madi Wardle splits setter duties with BriAnne Mortensen and Jaysa Funk Stratton. Wardle has dished out 71 assists for an average of 5.92 per set, while Mortensen and Funk Stratton contribute 3.50 and 3.64 assists per set, respectively.
• Defensively, Utah Valley is led by Seren Merril (3.79 digs per set) as well as Makaila Jarema (1.53 blocks per set).

Series vs. Utah Valley
Long Beach State and Utah Valley will meet for just the second time in program history. Previously, the two teams faced off a year ago in Orem, Utah and the Wolverines came out victorious, 3-1. The Beach are looking for their first win over the Wolverines on Saturday.

The Long Beach Connection
Friday's match against Oregon will feature a reunion between the two programs as the Beach will square off against the Ducks who are led by head coach Matt Ulmer, and assistant coaches Erika Dillard and Dave Butler. The trio all served as assistant coaches at Long Beach State earlier in their respective careers.

Up Next
Following the Oregon Classic, the Beach will return to Long Beach to host Texas Tech on Monday, September 3 at 11 a.m. in a mid-day Labor Day contest. Following the home contest, LBSU will hit the road again, this time traveling to the East Coast for the TU Invite hosted by Towson. The TU Invite pits Long Beach State against Princeton and Towson on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

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Players Mentioned

Carly Aigner-Swesey

Mina Andjelkovic

Hailey Harward

Carly Hill

YiZhi Xue

Long Beach State University Athletics