Long Beach State Wins Thrilling Come From Behind Five-Set Match at CSUN

Saturday, September 22

Northridge, Calif.

7:00 PM

Long Beach State University

10-5, 2-0BWC

CSUN

5-9, 1-1BWC

Long Beach State

CSUN

Photo by: Photo by John Fajardo

Long Beach State Wins Thrilling Come From Behind Five-Set Match at CSUN

9/22/2018 11:24:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

The Beach had four players in double-figures as they won their fourth-straight contest

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

Box Score (PDF)

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – The Long Beach State women's volleyball team received four double-figure scoring efforts and a pair of double-doubles as the Beach rallied to win the fourth and fifth sets en route to earning a 3-2 [25-16, 23-25, 21-25, 26-24, 17-15] contest at CSUN on Saturday night to extend their winning streak to four.

With the victory the Beach improves to 2-0 in Big West Conference action and 10-5 overall, matching the team's win total from a year ago. Meanwhile, the Matadors drop to 1-1 in league play and 5-9 on the year.

The Beach were led offensively by four players who reached double-figures in Tyler Spriggs (13 kills), Allison Martinez (11 kills), Hailey Harward (10 kills), and Megan Kruidhof (10 kills). Harward also notched a double-double as she added 11 digs on the match. Additionally, Mina Andjelkovic recorded a double-double of her own as she dished out 20 assists and collected a career-high 18 digs.

Helping Andjelkovic pace the offense, Carly Aigner-Swesey distributed 26 assists as the Beach hit .303 on the match.

Defensively, middle blocker YiZhi Xue posted eight total blocks, while Emma Kirst and Harward added four. Libero Gigi Alex added 11 digs to pilot the offense.

The Beach won the first set after utilizing a 6-0 run to break the frame open as they jumped out in front 21-14. Long Beach State led the rest of the way and cruised to a 25-16 win.
CSUN, however, bounced back and claimed sets two and three by scores of 25-23 and 25-21, respectively.

Trailing two sets to one, the Beach found themselves with their backs against the wall as they were down by four (20-16) in the fourth set. Long Beach State called a timeout to regroup and came out of the break determined to win. The Beach closed the gap and evened the score at 22-22, before a Kruidhof kills gave them a 23-22 lead. The two teams traded points until they found themselves deadlocked at 24-all. The Beach pushed it to set point on a CSUN service error and one the set on an ace by Kruidhof.

With the match tied at two sets apiece, Long Beach State found itself down 8-5 in the fifth set. LBSU was unfazed as it rattled off five straight points to turn a three-point deficit into a two-point lead (10-8). CSUN managed to come back and even the score at 11-all sparking the first of five ties as the two teams traded points. With the match knotted at 15-all, Kruidhof's kill sent it to match point and the Beach took the set and match on a block by Martinez and Xue.

Long Beach State looks to extend their winning streak to five when it travels to UC Santa Barbara on Friday, Sept. 28 for a 7 p.m. match.