Long Beach State Wins Third Straight, Collects Sweep at Towson

Friday, September 7

Towson, Md.

10:00 AM

Long Beach State University

6-4

Towson

3-5

Long Beach State

TOWSON

Photo by: Photo by John Fajardo

Long Beach State Wins Third Straight, Collects Sweep at Towson

9/7/2018 2:41:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Xue hits .556 with 10 kills and eight blocks in LBSU’s victory

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

TOWSON, Md. – The Long Beach State women's volleyball won its third straight match as the Beach swept Towson, 3-0 [25-20, 26-24, 25-23] at the Towson Invitation on Friday.

With the win, Long Beach State improves to 6-4, while Towson drops to 3-5.

The Beach received another hot-hitting performance from YiZhi Xue as she posted a .556 attack percentage after tallying 10 kills on 18 swings without committing an error. Xue was productive on both sides of the ball as she also posted eight blocks (one solo block, seven block assists) to lead the defense.

Freshman Kashauna Williams led the team with 11 kills, while Carly Aigner-Swesey dished out 30 assists to help the Beach to a .229 hitting percentage.

Defensively, Carly Hill distributed 17 digs, while Hailey Harward added 12, and Tyler Spriggs contributed 11. Harward also recorded five blocks, while Williams registered four.

Long Beach State and Towson began the match pretty balanced as the two teams traded points several times before the Tigers used a 4-0 run to jump out in front 10-6 forcing the Beach to take a timeout. Following the break in action, LBSU received back-to-back kills from Xue to close the gap and make it a one-point game (11-10).

From there, the Beach managed to even the score at 19-all on a kill by Harward. Long Beach State capitalized on its opportunities and went on a 4-0 run to take a 23-19 lead. With the momentum swinging in the Beach's favor, Long Beach State closed the first set on a kill by Spriggs to win, 25-20.

Long Beach State opened the second set scoring three straight points and eventually pushed its lead to five (6-1) as Towson called a timeout. The Beach held the lead for the early part of the set until the Tigers began to chip away and cut LBSU's lead to one (12-11). However, the Beach would use another 3-0 run to go back up by four (15-11). The Beach led until the Tigers again bounded back and evened the score at 20-all. However, Long Beach State would not let up as the Beach went on a 4-0 run to push it to set point, 24-20. But the Tigers came back and evened the score at 24-24. With their backs against the wall, the Beach showed their determination and got a kill from Megan Kruidof, followed by a block by Xue and Williams to win the set.

The third set saw the Beach break an early 2-2 tie and jump out to a 9-3 lead to start things off. Long Beach State would hold the lead until the Tigers evened the score 19-19. From there, the two teams battled back and forth, but Long Beach State was determined to get the sweep as the Beach pushed it to match point, 24-22, on a Williams kill, before winning the match on a spike off the hands of Emma Kirst, 25-23.

The Beach hit .229 in the match and posted 14.0 total team blocks.

Long Beach State returns home to host No. 9 UCLA on Thursday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m. inside the Walter Pyramid. The Beach have a busy week ahead as they host the LBSU Mizuno Invitational on Sept. 14 and 15.