Long Beach State hosts Mizuno Classic

Thursday, September 5

Long Beach, Calif.

8:00 PM

Long Beach State University

Texas State

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Photo by: John Fajardo

9/4/2019 12:23:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

The Beach welcome Texas State, Georgia and UCLA to the Walter Pyramid

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

Long Beach State Mizuno Classic

Match #4
Long Beach State vs. Texas State
Date: Thursday, Sept. 5
Time: 8:00 p.m.

Match #5
Long Beach State vs. Georgia
Date: Friday, Sept. 6
Time: 7:00 p.m.

Match #6
Long Beach State vs. UCLA
Date: Saturday, Sept. 7
Time: 7:00 p.m.

Arena: Walter Pyramid
Location: Long Beach, Calif.
Live Stats: BeachLiveStats.com
Listen: 22WestMedia.com
Watch: Beach Vision
Talent: Bryan Fenley
Twitter: @LBSU_WVB

Complete LBSU Notes (PDF)

Long Beach State hosts Mizuno Classic
After opening the 2019 season last week with a 2-1 record at the Georgia Tech Tournament, Long Beach State returns to the Walter Pyramid to host the Mizuno Classic. The Beach welcome Texas State, Georgia and UCLA in the three-day tournament which begins Thursday, Sept. 5.

Catch all the Action
All Long Beach State home matches will be streamed on Beach Vision as well as broadcast on 22 West Radio with Bryan Fenley on the call. Live stats for all LBSU home contests will also be available on BeachLiveStats.com.

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.

Beach Promos
Friday, September 6 is National Food Bank Day. All fans who bring three (3) canned goods will receive a discounted ticket. Saturday, September 7 is "Lace-up for Pediatric Cancer." Fans are encouraged to wear gold to support the Beach. Following Saturday's match against UCLA, the Long Beach State women's volleyball team will be signing team posters in a postgame autograph session.

About The Beach
• Long Beach State opened the 2019 season at the Georgia Tech Tournament and went 2-1 with wins over UNC Asheville (3-2) and Southern (3-0), after dropping the season opener to the host Bulldogs (3-1).
• At the conclusion of the tournament, LBSU saw Allison Martinez and YiZhi Xue named to the All-Tournament Team for their efforts.
• Martinez had a solid weekend as she came off the bench and led all scorers with 4.25 kills per set on .339 hitting. She notched a career-high 24 kills against UNC Asheville to lead the Beach to a five-set win.
• Sophomore Kashauna Williams, who concluded her rookie season named to the Big West All-Freshman Team, picked up right where she left off as she finished the tournament with 3.92 kills per set.
• Setters Carly Aigner-Swesey and Tia Chavira both saw action on the court to start the year as Aigner-Swesey is averaging 13.00 assists per set, while Chavira is contributing 11.71.
• Senior libero Hailey Harward paced the defense averaging 3.92 digs per set after tallying 20 digs in two out of the Beach's three matches at the Georgia Tech Tournament.
• At the net, Kjersti Norveel and Xue led the way with 1.33 and 0.83 blocks per set, respectively.
• Xue was solid on both sides of the ball as she added 3.08 kills per set on .455 hitting, while leading the Beach with six service aces. She set a career-high with four aces in the season opener against host Georgia Tech.
• 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 Texas State
Texas State comes into the Long Beach Mizuno Classic with a 1-2 record. The Bobcats opened the season last week with a 3-1 win over Liberty before dropping matches to No. 14 USC (3-1) and UNI (3-0).

The Bobcast are led by Cheyenne Huskey who averages 3.00 kills per set. Emily DeWalt is the team's setter with 7.82 assists per set, while also leading the squad with 2.18 digs per set.

The Beach and the Bobcats will meet for the third time in program history and for the first time since 1972. Long Beach State leads the all-time series 2-0 over Texas State, which was then known as Texas-San Marcos.

Scouting Georgia
Georgia is 2-1 on the year. The Bulldogs kicked off the 2019 season with a 3-0 setback at Clemson, but bounced back to defeat Kennesaw State (3-2) and Wofford (3-0).

Rachel Ritchie (3.27 kills per set) and Mallory Hernandez (3.00 kills per set) lead the team offensively, while Meghan Donovan paces the Bulldogs with 9.27 assists per set. Defensively, Georgia is led by Kendall Glover (2.73 digs per set) and Sage Naves (1.13 blocks per set).

The Beach and the Bulldogs will face off for the first time in program history.

Scouting UCLA
UCLA is looking for its first win of the 2019 season after having dropped a pair of 3-0 contests to No. 20 Baylor and No. 2 Nebraska last week.

Mac May leads the Bruins with 3.50 kills per set, while adding 2.50 digs per set.

Devon Chang has dished out 7.75 assists per set as the team's setter, while also contributing 2.25 digs per set.
The Beach and the Bruins go head-to-head for the 89th time in program history. UCLA leads the all-time series 64-24.

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.

Can You Dig It?
Hailey Harward kicked off her senior season as the team's starting libero and in the first two matches of the season promptly recorded two 20-dig performances. The Phoenix, Ariz., native came into the year ranked ninth in the LBSU career record book and with a total of 1,164 career digs is now just 17 digs away from moving into eighth place.

Block Party
Senior middle blocker YiZhi Xue began her final collegiate season at Long Beach State ranked 10th in the LBSU career record book as she has posted 306 block assists. After registering nine block assists at the Georgia Tech Invitational which earned her an all-tournament team nod, Xue is just six block assists shy of taking ninth.

Up Next
Following the Long Beach State Mizuno Classic, the Beach will continue preseason tournament action as they travel to Gainesville, Fla., for the Florida Tournament. Long Beach State will go up against James Madison (Sept. 13 at 7 a.m .PT), USF (Sept. 13 2 p.m. PT), before closing out the tournament against the host Gators on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 2 p.m. (PT).