Long Beach State Rallies to Defeat South Florida in Five

Friday, September 13

Gainesville, Fla.

2:00 PM

Long Beach State University

3-5

USF

3-5

South Florida

Long Beach State

Photo by: John Fajardo

9/13/2019 5:42:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Kashauna Williams records a career-high 23 kills to lead the Beach

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

Box Score (PDF)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After dropping the first two sets to South Florida, Long Beach State rallied and won the next three sets to defeat the Bulls, 3-2 [20-25, 23-25, 25-23, 25-21, 16-14] on Friday evening at the Gator Invitational.

The Beach (3-5) received several solid performances as sophomore Kashauna Williams reached a new career-high with 23 kills and freshman setter Tia Chavira notched a double-double (44 assists, 11 digs).

The Bulls (3-5) started off strong, but the Beach heated up and came from behind to collect the win which snapped a four-match losing streak.

Williams led all scorers and freshman opposite Katie Kennedy added a 10-kill performance of her own to lead the offensive attack. Senior middle blocker YiZhi Xue added nine kills, while sophomore outside Amanda Henderson contributed eight.
Xue also collected six digs, three blocks, two aces, and an assist, while Henderson collected 10 digs to go along with two blocks and an assist.

Leading the Beach defense was senior libero Hailey Harward who finished the match with 16 digs to bring her career total to 1261. She is currently in seventh place all-time at Long Beach State and just one dig shy of tying LBSU legend Misty May for sixth place.

Long Beach State and USF played a closely contested match throughout, but the Bulls managed to come away with the first two sets. The Beach, however, was determined to avoid the sweep. Showing their grit, LBSU battled back from a 21-18 deficit and tied the game at 23-all on a kill from Xue. With momentum on their side, the Beach closed out the third set with back-to-back kills from Erin McFarland and Kennedy.

The Beach brought the momentum from the third set into the fourth and jumped out in front early, 7-1. However, the Bulls chipped away and made it a two-point game (7-5). Long Beach State surged back in front, 16-11, and held the lead the rest of the way before winning 25-21 to force a fifth and deciding set.

The final set was a nail-biter that saw both teams exchange leads four times and battle through 11 ties. USF pushed it to match point on a kill by Jac'cara Walker (14-13), but Long Beach State got a kill from Williams to tie it at 14-all. Chavira went back-to-back with kills to give the Beach the set and match as LBSU claimed the fifth set, 16-14.

USF received three double-figure showings from Lindsey Pliapol (22 kills), Walker (18 kills), and Aleia Wilborn (12 kills). Walker and Pliapol each notched a double-double as Walker added 20 digs, while Pliapol collected 10.

Long Beach State will close out the Gator Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 14 when the Beach goes up against the host No. 11 Florida Gators at 5 p.m. (ET) / 2 p.m. (PT).