No. 9 Beach Volleyball Upsets No. 6 Cal Poly

Saturday, April 6

Laguna Beach, Calif.

12:30 p.m.

Long Beach State University

Cal Poly

4/6/2024 4:52:00 PM | Women's Beach Volleyball

LBSU wins the second annual Best in the West tournament with wins over Cal Poly and Saint Katherine.

By: Maxime Garcia, Athletic Communications Assisstant

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. — Long Beach State took an early lead on the way to winning a 3-2 match against the Mustangs and ended the day with a sweep of the University of St. Katherine Firebirds.

After a tough loss to Cal Poly (21-3) earlier in the season during The Big West Challenge, Long Beach State (20-4) came back and earned a critical win to down the Mustangs 3-2. Julia Westby and Natalie Glenn breezed through their first set, holding their opponent to 10 points. They dropped their second set but came back to win the third set and earned the team their first dual point. The fourth flight duo of Deroos and Widener fought hard through a back and forth first set that went to 32-30. They battled again in the second set that went 26-24 and put the Beach up 2-0 in the dual. The fifth flight duo dropped their game to give the Mustangs their first dual point. Malia Gementera and Taylor Hagenah had a close first set with Connor and Martinez but ultimately couldn't come up with a win. With the dual tied at 2-2, all eyes were on Savannah Standage and Mo Gibson. They started slowly and gained momentum to take the first set. The second set was back and forth as well. Mo Gibson got a huge block to earn the Beach their third dual point and win the match.

The second match of the day was a sweep against St. Katherine (11-7). The fourth flight of Christine Deroos and Kate Stoughton played a dominant game against their opponents. The second flight duo faced a good opponent in Natalie Hill and Katie Alexander but maintained control of their game to win in straight sets. The fifth pair flight took the dual for the Beach with their straight set win over the Firebirds. The third and first flight also won in straight sets to complete the sweep.

The Beach will head back on the road to face No. 1 UCLA and CSUN in Los Angeles on Tuesday, April 9th.

#9 Long Beach State 3, #6 Cal Poly 2

1. Ella Connor/Izzy Martinez (CP) def. Malia Gementera/Taylor Hagenah (LBSU) 21-19, 21-14

2. Julia Westby/Natalie Glenn (LBSU) def. Piper Ferch/Erin Inskeep (CP) 21-10, 16-21, 15-12

3. Mo Gibson/Savannah Standage (LBSU) def. Lindsey Sparks/Quinn Perry (CP) 21-18, 21-19

4. Christine Deroos/Megan Widener (LBSU) def. Abbey Reinard/Madison Nichols (CP) 32-30, 26-24

5. Piper Naess/Logan Walter (CP) def. Kate Stoughton/Livi Narancich (LBSU) 21-17, 21-13

Exh. Haley Carrington/Emily Sparks (LBSU) def. Katie Clevenger/Julia Soeller (CP) 21-19, 21-19

Order of finish: 2, 4, 5, 3, 1*

#9 Long Beach State 5, USK 0

1. Malia Gementera/Taylor Hagenah (LBSU) def. Anne Mayfield/Lexi Morris (USK) 21-11, 21-9

2. Natalie Glenn/Julia Westby (LBSU) def. Katie Alexander/Natalie Hill (USK) 21-17, 21-12