LBSU Travels UC San Diego, Hosts UC Irvine in Black & Blue Rivarly on Senior Night

Friday, November 19

La Jolla, Calif.

7:00 PM

Long Beach State University

UC San Diego

Photo by: John Fajardo

LBSU Travels UC San Diego, Hosts UC Irvine in Black & Blue Rivarly on Senior Night

11/18/2021 4:16:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

The Beach plays at UC San Diego on Friday night, before hosting UC Irvine on Saturday night

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

MATCH #26: LONG BEACH STATE at UC SAN DIEGO
Date: Friday, November 19
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: La Jolla, Calif.
Venue: RIMAC Arena
Live Stats: UCSDTritons.com
TV: ESPN+
Twitter: @LBSU_WVB

MATCH #27: LONG BEACH STATE vs. UC IRVINE
Date: Saturday, November 20
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Long Beach, Calif.
Venue: Walter Pyramid
Live Stats: BeachLiveStats.com
TV: ESPN+
Talent: Matt Brown
Twitter: @LBSU_WVB
Ticket Website: www.LongBeachState.com

COMPLETE LBSU MATCH NOTES (PDF)

LBSU Travels UC San Diego, Hosts UC Irvine in Black & Blue Rivalry on Senior Night
The Long Beach State women's volleyball team travels to UC San Diego for a Friday, November 19 contest at 7 p.m., before hosting UC Irvine in the Black and Blue Rivalry game on Saturday, November 20 at 7 p.m. Both matches will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Prior to the Beach-Anteaters match, seniors Miranda Canez and Avery Nelson will be honored on Senior Night.

Catch All The Action
All Long Beach State home matches will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Fans can sign up for ESPN+ for $5.99 per month ($59.99 per year) at ESPN.com, ESPNplus.com, or on the ESPN App. It is also available as part of The Disney Bundle that gives subscribers access to Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu for $13.99 per month (Hulu with ads) or $19.99 per month (Hulu without ads). Fans can also follow stats updates on BeachLiveStats.com.

Staying Social
Follow Long Beach State women's volleyball on Instagram and Twitter at @LBSUWVB and @LBSU_WVB, respectively. Fans can stay up-to-date on all things Long Beach State by following @LBSUAthletics. Be sure to "like" us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram at @LBSU.

About the Beach
• Long Beach State has won three of its last four matches to improve to 12-15 on the year, while posting a 6-10 Big West Conference record.
• The Beach went 2-0 las weekend with a pair of 3-1 victories over CSUN and UC Santa Barbara.
• Kashauna Williams continues her hot hitting as she now owns 1,125 career kills to rank 13th in Long Beach State program history. She is 10 kills away from taking sole possession of 12th place on the Long Beach State all-time list.
• Freshman outside hitter Erykah Lovett has continues to turn in an solid rookie season as she is second on the team with 2.61 kills per set, while her 0.38 aces per set rank her third in the Big West. On the year, she is averaging 2.77 digs per set, 0.34 assists per set, and 0.25 blocks per set as she contributes on both sides of the ball.
• Sophomore Katie Kennedy has settled in on the right side and is third on the team with 2.52 kills per set on a .248 hitting percentage. The Hood River, Ore., native also contributes 0.73 digs per set and 0.44 blocks per set.
• Senior Miranda Canez continues to lead the Beach in hitting with a .310 attack percentage which is good for sixth in the Big West. Additionally, she is second on the squad with 0.75 blocks per set, while also contributing 1.50 kills per set.
• At setter, Long Beach State has utilized both sophomore Tia Chavira and freshman Kasia Partyka this season. Chavira leads the way with 8.72 assists per set, while Partyka adds 7.97 assists per set.
• Chavira also contributes 2.50 digs per set, 1.11 kills per set, 0.36 blocks per set, and 0.30 aces per set, while hitting .290 on the year as a solid contributor to Long Beach State.
• Sophomore libero Nicole Hoff has been stout in the back row for the Beach having racked up a total of 378 digs for an average of 3.74 digs per set to rank in the top 10 in the Big West Conference. She also has led the Beach in digs 16 times and has registered double-digit digs in 23 contests.
• At the net freshman middle blocker Kameron Bacon has collected 80 total blocks (9 solo, 71 assists) to lead the team with 0.83 blocks. She also contributes 1.07 kills per set on the offensive end with 1.13 kills per set.
• Off the bench, Dylan Dela Cruz and Jenna Giambi have been productive for the Beach in the back row contributing 2.16 digs per set and 1.90 digs per set, respectively. Meanwhile, senior outside hitter Avery Nelson has contributed 1.40 kills per set and 1.08 digs per set for LBSU.

Scouting UC San Diego
• UC San Diego is 9-18 overall and 6-10 in the Big West.
• The Tritons went 0-2 last weekend with a 3-1 loss at UC Irvine before suffering a sweep in Hawaii.
• As a team, the Tritons are led by Ava McInnes' 3.15 kills per set. She also contributes 1.91 digs per set and 0.40 blocks per set.
• Isabela Dobra is the team's setter as she averages 10.53 assists per set to go along with 3.41 digs per set.
• Naya Dong is the squad's libero as she anchors the back row with 4.50 digs per set.
• At the net, Emily McDaniel and Juliette Bokor lead the way with 0.79 and 0.69 blocks per set, respectively.

The Series: The Beach vs. The Tritons
Long Beach State and UC San Diego will meet for just the third time in program history. In the all-time series, the Beach leads 2-0. Earlier this season, Long Beach State defeated UC San Diego, 3-1, on Oct. 15 at the Walter Pyramid.

Scouting UC Irvine
• UC Irvine comes into the week with a 15-11 overall record and the Anteaters are 8-8 in Big West action.
• Last week, the Anteaters went 1-1 with a 3-1 win over UC San Diego, before dropping a three-set contest at Hawaii.
• This season, Joy Umeh and Onye Ofoegbu lead the Anteaters with 3.77 and 3.10 kills per set.
• Ofoegbu is also the team leader with 1.29 blocks per set.
• At setter, the Anteaters platoon Kelly Negron and Indy DeSmet as Negron has 5.72 assists per set, while DeSmet averages 4.11 assists per set.
• Carly Richter's 3.32 digs set the tone in the back row.

The Series: The Beach vs. The Anteaters
Long Beach State and UC Irvine will meet for the 88th time in program history. Overall, the Beach lead the all-time series 73-14. However, earlier this season, UC Irvine came away with a 3-2 victory at the Bren Events Center.

A Grand Time
Long Beach State junior outside hitter Kashauna Williams joined elite company as she became the 17th player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills. Williams now has 1,110 career kills and ranks 13th all-time at the Beach. Williams is 25 kills away from taking sole possession of 12th place all-time as she now ranks among Long Beach State legends Tara Cross, Danielle Scott, and Tayyiba Haneef.

Double-Double Toil And Trouble
Long Beach State has had several solid performances this season including 20 double-doubles by five different players in 27 matches. Leading the way is freshman Erykah Lovett who has logged nine double-doubles in her rookie season. Sophomore Tia Chavira has posted seven double-doubles this season, while Kashauna Williams has recorded two. Lastly, Nicole Hoff and Kasia Partyka each have tallied one double-double so far.

Family Connections
Freshman outside hitter Jaylen Jordan and freshman defensive specialist Jenna Giambi have some strong family connections. Jordan is the daughter of Kevin Jordan who played football at UCLA, while her mother, Jenny Johnson Jordan played volleyball. Her mother went on to play on the 2000 Beach Volleyball Olympic Team, while her father played in the NFL with both the Cardinals and the Bengals. If that weren't enough, her grandfather was 1960 Olympic Gold Medalist and UCLA track & field and basketball star, Rafer Johnson. Giambi, meanwhile, comes from a strong pedigree of athletes as well. Her mother, Julie Giambi, played softball at Cal State Fullerton, and her uncles, Jason and Jeremy, are former Major League Baseball players. Her Uncle Jason played for the Dirtbags from 1990-92. Another descendant of a Dirtbag is freshman Kailia Lopez. She is the daughter of Derek Lopez who played for the Dirtbags in 1989.

Next Up
Long Beach State wraps up the regular season on the road as the Beach travel up to UC Davis for a Wednesday, Nov. 24 match at 2 p.m., before closing the season at UC Riverside on Saturday, Nov. 27 at 5 p.m.