Long Beach State Rolls Over UC Irvine in Black & Blue Rivalry Sweep

Saturday, October 19

Long Beach, Calif.

7:00 PM

Long Beach State University

5-14,2-5Big West

UC Irvine

4-15,1-6Big West

UC Irvine

Long Beach St.

Photo by: John Fajardo

Long Beach State Rolls Over UC Irvine in Black & Blue Rivalry Sweep

10/19/2019 10:21:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

The Beach turned in a dominating performance in the straight set victory

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

Hear what @LBSU_WVB head coach Joy McKienzie-Fuerbringer, senior Hailey Harward, and sophomore Amanda Henderson have to say about the Beach's 3-0 sweep over UC Irvine #GoBeach https://t.co/l7kx1cmyKc via @LBSUAthletics
— LBSU W. Volleyball (@LBSU_WVB) October 20, 2019

Box Score (PDF)

LONG BEACH, Calif. – The Long Beach State women's volleyball team played well on both sides of the ball on Saturday night to sweep UC Irvine, 3-0 [25-22, 25-12, 25-16] in the Black and Blue Rivalry match up at the Walter Pyramid.

The Beach (6-13, 3-4 Big West) dominated the Anteaters (4-15, 1-6 Big West) in the three-set contest which saw LBSU out hit UC Irvine .264 to .045. Long Beach State was led by three double-figure scorers in Amanda Henderson (12 kills), Kashauna Williams (12 kills), and Katie Kennedy (11 kills), while the defense was anchored by Hailey Harward (16 digs) and Erin McFarland (5 blocks).

Henderson hit .375 on the night, while adding three blocks and two digs as the sophomore earned the start at outside hitter. Kennedy came off the bench and hit .320 in the match, while McFarland, who started at middle blocker, also contributed offensively with four kills on seven swings while committing just one attack error for an attack percentage of .429.

Sophomore setter Carly Aigner-Swesey turned in another solid effort as she dished out 37 assists and eight digs.

UC Irvine opened the match with a 5-2 lead over Long Beach State, but the Beach used four consecutive points, highlighted by an ace from YiZhi Xue, to take an 8-6 advantage. LBSU held the lead the rest of the way as the Beach pushed it to set point (24-20) in a kill from Williams. After Irvine made it a two-point game (24-22), LBSU took a timeout to regroup before getting back on the court and ending the set on a kill from Xue.

The Beach found their groove in the second set as they hit .458 and posted an impressive 91% sideout efficiency. The LBSU defense was solid as it forced UCI into a negative attack percentage (-.043). The Beach kicked off the second set with four-straight points and never looked back as they led the entire frame and cruised to a 25-12 victory.

Leading two sets to none, Long Beach State continued its dominating performance into the third set. The Beach defense, once again, kept UC Irvine guessing as the Anteaters hit .132 in the frame and were limited to just 16 points. LBSU used several scoring runs to put some distance between itself and UCI before closing out the set and match on a block by McFarland and Henderson.

BEACH WIN!!! Long Beach State completes the sweep over UC Irvine with a 25-16 victory in the third set! #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/UjYp8D8EUe
— LBSU W. Volleyball (@LBSU_WVB) October 20, 2019

UC Irvine's offense struggled hitting under .100 on the night. Carissa MacDonald led the Anteaters with six kills on .385 hitting, while libero Chloe Owens added 10 digs. Setter Kelly Negron posted 17 assists to go along with UC Irvine's only two service aces of the match.

Long Beach State returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 26 when the Beach host CSUN at the Walter Pyramid. First serve is set for 7 p.m.