Long Beach State Women’s Volleyball Heads to Florida Tournament

Friday, September 13

Gainesville, Fla.

7:00 AM

Long Beach State University

James Madison

Photo by: John Fajardo

Long Beach State Women’s Volleyball Heads to Florida Tournament

9/12/2019 12:20:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

The Beach face James Madison, South Florida and No. 11 Florida this weekend

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

Honda of Gainesville Gator Invitational
Match #7
Long Beach State vs. James Madison
Date: Friday, Sept. 13
Time: 7:00 a.m. (PT) / 10:00 a.m. (ET)

Match #8
Long Beach State vs. South Florida
Date: Friday, Sept. 13
Time: 2:00 p.m. (PT) / 5:00 p.m. (ET)

Match #9
Long Beach State at No. 11 Florida
Date: Saturday, Sept. 14
Time: 2:00 p.m. (PT) / 5:00 p.m. (ET)

Arena: O'Connell Center
Location: Gainesville. Fla.
Live Stats: FloridaGators.com
Listen: 22WestMedia.com
Watch (LBSU-Florida Match Only): FloridaGators.com
Twitter: @LBSU_WVB

Complete LBSU Notes (PDF)

Long Beach State Women's Volleyball Heads to Florida Tournament
The Beach are looking to snap a three-match losing skid as Long Beach State competes in the Honda of Gainesville Gator Invitational this weekend. The Beach open the tournament against James Madison on Friday, Sept. 13 at 10 a.m. (ET), before taking on South Florida later that day at 5 p.m. (ET). LBSU and No. 11 Florida will face off on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 5 p.m (ET) to close out the tournament.

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.

About The Beach
• Long Beach State is 2-4 on the year after having suffered three losses last weekend to Texas State (3-2), Georgia (3-1), and UCLA (3-0) at the LBSU Mizuno Classic.
• Despite the setbacks, the Beach received a strong showing from senior libero Hailey Harward who averaged 5.00 digs per set and was named to the All-Tournament Team.
• Harward leads the team with 4.46 digs per set as she has accumulated 107 digs on the year to bring her career total to 1,251 which ranks her seventh all-time at LBSU.
• The Beach are led offensively by sophomores Kashauna Williams and Allison Martinez. The pair each average 3.83 kills per set, while Martinez is hitting .300 on the season.
• Setters Carly Aigner-Swesey and Tia Chavira have both seen action on the court this season as Aigner-Swesey is averaging 10.43 assists per set, while Chavira is contributing 9.84.
• At the net, Kjersti Norveel and Xue led the way with 1.38 and 0.83 blocks per set, respectively.
• Xue has amassed 324 career block assists and has now moved into ninth in the Long Beach State career record book.
• The Beach were chosen to finish fifth in the Big West Preseason Coaches Poll behind Cal Poly, Hawaii, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Irvine, respectively.

Scouting James Madison
James Madison is coming off back-to-back wins over High Point (3-0) and Furman (3-0) which brought the Dukes' record to 3-3.

Sophia Davis leads the team with 2.75 kills per set on a .441 attack percentage. She is also the Dukes' leader at the net with 1.10 blocks per set.

Sarah Martin and Caroline Dozier share setter duties as they contribute 7.53 and 5.45 assists per set, respectively.

Savannah Marshall has paced the back row for JMU with 4.35 digs per set.

The Beach and the Dukes will meet for the third time in program history and Long Beach State leads the all-time series 2-0. Friday's contest marks the first meeting between the two teams since 2012.

Scouting South Florida
South Florida (USF) brings a 3-3 overall record into the Gainesville Gator Invitational. The Bulls are coming off of a four-set win over North Florida which snapped a three-match losing skid.

Lindsey Pliapol leads the Bulls with 3.32 kills per set, while adding 2.42 digs per set.

Lauren LaBeck and Rafaela Biegelmeyer are the team's setters. LaBeck averages 7.83 assists per set, while Biegelmeyer adds 6.57.

Defensively, CC Clausen paces the back row with 4.54 digs per set.

At the net, USF has four players averaging 1.00 block per set or more. Nicole Legg leads the way with 1.20, while Ally Barnhart (1.16), Nyemba Musemuna (1.00), and Peyton Thompson (1.00) round out the group.

LBSU and USF will face off for the third time in program history and the Beach lead the all-time series 2-0. The last time the two teams met was in 1998.

Scouting Florida
No. 11 Florida is 2-2 on the year as the Gators opened the year with a pair of wins over Louisville (3-0) and Dayton (3-2), before dropping straight sets to No. 1 Stanford and No. 8 Minnesota.

The Gators are led offensively by Thayer Hall's 4.00 kills per set. She also adds 2,93 digs per set and 0.64 blocks per set.

Marlie Monserez is the team's setter as she has dished out 130 assists to average 9.29 assists per set.

Defensively, Allie Gregory averages 4.43 digs per set, while Rachel Kramer (1.14) and Darrielle King (1.08) lead the squad in blocking defense.

The Beach and the Gators will meet for the 11th time in program history and LBSU holds a slight edge in the all-time series with a 6-4 record. The two teams will face off for the first time since 2008.

All-Tournament Honors
Allison Martinez and YiZhi Xue were named to the Georgia Tech All-Tournament Team after turning in a pair of stellar performances. Martinez came off the bench to lead the Beach with 4.25 kills per set on .339 hitting, while Xue displayed a solid effort on both sides of the ball finishing the tournament with 3.08 kills per set, 0.83 blocks per set, six aces, and a .455 attack percentage.

The following weekend Hailey Harward shined on defense as she set a new season-high with 25 digs on two occasions before finishing off the LBSU Mizuno Classic averaging 5.00 digs per set en route to an all-tournament team selection.

Can You Dig It?
Hailey Harward has amassed 107 digs this season to average 4.46 digs per set. She has brought her career total to 1,251 as she has moved into seventh place all-time. Harward is just 28 digs shy of tying Long Beach State legend Misty May with 1,279.

Block Party
Senior middle blocker YiZhi Xue moved into ninth place all-time at the Beach with 324 block assists. She is second on the team with 20 total blocks for an average of 0.83 blocks per set.

Up Next
Long Beach State continues its road swing as the Beach take on San Diego State on Thursday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. LBSU will then compete in the San Diego Tournament, where the Beach will take on USC on Friday, Sept. 20 at 4 p.m., before closing out the tournament against host San Diego on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m.