Women's Volleyball Takes On Cal State Fullerton In Big West Battle

Friday, October 23

Long Beach, Calif.

7 p.m.

Long Beach State University

Cal State Fullerton

Tickets From $12 - $24

Women's Volleyball Crowd at LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid

10/20/2026 4:01:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Game Notes - Week 9

Long Beach State hosts seven of its final 10 Big West matches, starting with a Friday night matchup against Cal State Fullerton.

By: Joe Reinsch; Assistant Director, Athletic Communications

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- After playing on the road for three of the first four weekends of Big West play, Long Beach State hits the halfway point of the conference schedule with a two-match series with travel partner Cal State Fullerton. The Beach hosts the first of two matchups on Friday at 7 p.m. The series shifts to Fullerton for the Saturday matchup at 2 p.m. Both matches will be broadcast live on ESPN+.

RIGHT AWAY
• Long Beach State entered last week's road trip to new Big West members Utah Valley and Sacramento State in a six-team tie for second place in the conference standings. The second-place tie is now down to three teams, with the Beach picking up a five-set reverse sweep victory at Utah Valley before rolling to a three-set sweep at Sacramento State. Junior Madi Maxwell posted her third triple-double of the season, tied for second in Division I, with a 15-kill, 28-assist, 18-dig effort against Utah Valley, and freshman Kyler Birkelbach had a team-high 12 kills and .750 hitting percentage to lead the way in the sweep of Sacramento State.

• Junior Madi Maxwell was named Big West Setter of the Week for the third time this season while sophomore Izzy Mahaffey earned Big West Defensive Player of the Week after the pair helped lead the Beach to last week's victories. Maxwell followed her Thursday triple-double with 8 kills, 16 assists, 7 digs, and 5 blocks against Sacramento State, finishing the week with 44 assists, 23 kills, 25 digs, and 8 blocks. Mahaffey was the LBSU digs leader in both victories, collecting a career-high 21 digs to lead the defense at Utah Valley before adding 19 more in just three sets as the Beach swept Sacramento State.

• The Beach went 10-0 in the month of September for the fifth time in program history and the first time since 2001. In doing so, they notched wins over teams from seven different conferences (Big West, Big 12, Pac-12, WCC, Mountain West, Ohio Valley, and Ivy League).

• Long Beach State's 8-2 mark in non-conference play was best among Big West programs.

• Long Beach is 102-8 all-time against Cal State Fullerton, winning the last six meetings between the schools. Cal State Fullerton's last win over the Beach was a 4-set victory on Sept. 27, 2022.

THE LONG BEACH TRADITION
• After a 22-9 record in 2025 under third-year head coach Natalie Reagan, Long Beach State began the year with an all-time record of 1,340-525-6. The program's 1,340 wins rank eighth in Division I history, trailing only Nebraska, BYU, Penn State, UCLA, Texas, Hawai'i, and Minnesota. The team's .718 winning percentage in history also ranks 12th in Division I history.

• Long Beach State are five-time national champions, winning AIAW championships in 1972 and 1973 and NCAA titles in 1989, 1993, and 1998. The Beach has made the NCAA Final Four 8 times, most recently in 2001, and has made 27 NCAA Tournament appearances.

FOR THE FANS
• Long Beach State has had over 3,000 fans watch the team at the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid 17 times, including the opening match of the season this year against UCLA. A program-record 5,118 packed the 'mid to view the 1998 National Champions featuring Misty May-Treanor against UC Santa Barbara in 1998. Overall, the Beach ranked in the Top 50 in attendance last season, with over 23,000 fans seeing the team at home in 2025.

• Five of the six home matches of 2026 have drawn over 1,000 fans, including three matches with 1,500-plus. With an average attendance of 1,650, the Beach ranks third in average attendance among all California schools (behind Stanford and USC) and ninth among mid-majors this season.

SEASON IN BRIEF
• Season Opener (Week 1): In front of over 3,000 in the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid, Long Beach State won their first set of the season against UCLA, but the Bruins ultimately won both halves of the home-and-home matchup between the two Southern California volleyball rivals.

• Non-Conference Highlights (Week 2): Long Beach State won the remaining eight non-conference matchups, starting with an excellent 3-0 weekend at the Utah Classic. LBSU started with a dominant 3-0 win over Eastern Illinois, hitting over .400, and followed with two thrilling five-set wins. Sidney Hamaker had a career-high 20 kills in the win over Big 12 foe Utah, and Madi Maxwell recorded her second triple-double of the season (36 assists, 13 digs, 10 kills).

• Non-Conference Highlights (Week 3): Sidney Hamaker was co-MVP of the LBSU/UCI tournament as the Beach went 3-0 against Brown, San Jose State and Loyola Marymount. The outside hitter saved her best for the biggest match against then 7-1 LMU, making 15 kills on .480 hitting in the sweep of the Lions. Madi Maxwell won her second straight Big West Setter of the Week award after guiding Long Beach State to .242 hitting over the same weekend.

• Non-Conference Highlights (Week 4): Long Beach State extended their winning streak to eight matches after two wins on the road at Pac-12 opponent Washington State. The Beach swept the Cougars in the first meeting before rallying for a five-set win behind 20 kills from Sidney Hamaker in the rematch the next day.

• Big West (Week 1): Madi Maxwell won Big West Defensive Player of the Week, leading Long Beach State to a pair of road wins to open conference play while extending the win streak, which was LBSU's first 10-match win streak since 2014. Maxwell registered 5 blocks and a team-high 11 digs in the UC Irvine sweep, and she tied her career-high with 8 blocks and added 17 digs. The Beach had a season-high 18.5 blocks (3 solo, 31 assist) in a 4-set win at UC San Diego.

• Big West (Week 2): Long Beach State earned a weekend split of Big West road matches with a 3-set sweep at Cal State Bakersfield just 24 hours after CSUN limited the Beach to a season-low hitting percentage in a sweep. Sidney Hamaker put away a match-high 12 kills to lead a well-balanced offense, which recorded a .299 hitting percentage in the win at Bakersfield.

• Big West (Week 3): In its first Big West home matches of the season, Long Beach State scored a four-set win to hand UC Santa Barbara their first conference defeat. Sophomore Sidney Hamaker led the way with a match-high 14 kills and 5 aces, while junior setter Madi Maxwell posted team-highs of 7 blocks and 17 digs. Cal Poly remained unbeaten in conference play with a sweep over LBSU despite 14 kills from Hamaker (including 8 in set three).

• Big West (Week 4): LBSU had a slow start to open the trip at Utah Valley, losing the first two sets and facing a 24-21 deficit in the third set. The Beach rallied to win the set, 27-25, then rallied for another 27-25 win in the fourth despite trailing again by an identical 24-21 margin. In the final set, LBSU used a 7-0 run to take a 9-2 lead and cruised to the 15-6 win. Kyler Birkelbach was outstanding in the sweep at Sacramento State, notching a season-high 12 kills on .750 hitting.

ON THE OUTSIDE
• Sophomore Sidney Hamaker has carried the load offensively for Long Beach State in her second season. Hamaker has led the Beach in kills 16 times in 18 matches, averaging a team-high 3.73 kills per set. She has three matches with 20-plus kills, most recently a career-high 23 kills in the five-set reverse-sweep win at Utah Valley, plus two additional performances with 15-plus kills.

• Redshirt Freshman Chloe Johnson is also making an early impact. Reaching double-figure kills for the first time with 10 against Wyoming, Johnson is third on the team with 118 kills on the year, averaging 1.84 per set. Johnson led the Beach with 10 kills in the first win at Washington State before setting a career-high of 13 in the second match.

• Senior Kendal Murphy has played a key role for the Beach after transferring from Baylor. Starting 16 of 18 matches this season, Murphy has 17 service aces and has made 103 kills on the year while playing all six rotations. Murphy set a season-high with 11 kills against San Jose State.

SETTER SPOTLIGHT
• Junior Madi Maxwell is already a three-time Big West Setter of the Week recipient, most recently after leading Long Beach State to road wins at Utah Valley and Sacramento State. The preseason All-Big West selection recorded her third triple-double of the season against Utah Valley, and she is second in Division I in triple-doubles this year. The 6-foot-2 setter also won Big West Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 28 after the opening week of conference play when she led the Beach to road wins at UC Irvine and UC San Diego. She now has nine career Big West weekly honors (six Setter of the Week, one Defensive Player of the Week, and two Freshman of the Week) and was selected a Second Team All-Big West honoree following her 2025 sophomore campaign.

• Sophomore Kinga Ziolkowska has played in every set the last five matches, recording 41 of her 49 assists this season in the past two matches alone. A transfer from McNeese State, Ziolkowska made a season-high 24 assists at Utah Valley and had a season-high 3 aces at Cal State Bakersfield. Her emergence provides Long Beach State a 6-2 option as a setter to aid Maxwell's transition into an attacking role on the front row.

BLOCK PARTY
• Long Beach State is averaging over 9 blocks per match this season with strong depth playing a role in the middle. LBSU leads the Big West in blocks through the first four weeks of conference play, averaging 2.79 blocks per set through eight conference matches. The Beach are holding Big West opponents to just .177 hitting, ranking third in the conference in opponent hitting percentage. Pola Bujnarowska is second in the Big West in blocks per set (1.36) during conference play.

• Junior Pola Bujnarowska is becoming a consistent force in the middle, posting 46 of her team-high 70 blocks over the past nine matches. She had a monster match against Wyoming, making 10 blocks against the Cowgirls, and she added 8-block performances in victories over Washington State and UC San Diego. The junior is averaging 1.19 blocks per set overall, which has increased during Big West matches to average 1.36 blocks per set. She has played in 16 matches, starting 14, times, hitting a team-high .348 with 86 kills on the year.

• An unconventional path brought middle blocker Reagan Hope to Long Beach State. A Top 25 recruit out of high school, Hope spent two seasons at Oregon before fully devoting her time to Beach Volleyball. She played two seasons with UCLA Beach Volleyball before going 15-15 overall with Arizona State in her final season of Beach. She now returns to LBSU to finish off her indoor career, and despite missing two matches, Hope has 54 total blocks and is hitting .286 on the year.

• Freshman Kyler Birkelbach has had a great start to her career at the Beach, and the 6-foot-3 middle blocker is coming off her best match of the season in the Sacramento State win. Birkelbach had a career-high 12 kills on just 16 attacks for a .750 hitting percentage, the best of the season by any LBSU hitter with at least 12 kills in a match. She also tied her career-high with 7 blocks and added a pair of aces, also a career-best. Birkelbach was at her best in the decisive third set, notching five kills on seven swings to go with five blocks in the final set after going for five kills on five swings in the second set. She also finished strong in the five-set win at Washington State, collecting four kills on six swings to close out the win.

DIGGING IT
• The Beach returns both of their liberos from last season. Both true freshmen in 2025, Izzy Mahaffey finished with 211 digs and 11 aces on the year while Anna Jelinek added 183 digs and 8 aces, with both playing in every match during the season.

• Mahaffey was named Big West Defensive Player of the Week after she led Long Beach State in digs in wins at Utah Valley and Sacramento State. She recorded a career-high 21 digs at Utah Valley, with 13 of those in the final two sets, and she added 19 digs at Sacramento State. Mahaffey has played in every set, making 131 digs while providing a boost on serve with 16 aces on the year. Jelinek ranks second on the team in digs, averaging 2.90 per set, and started at libero 16 times this season. Senior Laurel Barsocchini has also played a big role for the Beach, seeing time in 61 sets as a defensive specialist, including a start, and making 10 aces in the early part of the season.

THIS AND THAT
• Madi Maxwell and Madi Collins also compete on Long Beach State's Beach Volleyball team. The pair were both on the 2026 team for Long Beach State that finished the year ranked No. 9 in the nation and made a fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships held in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

• Long Beach State is coming off of the program's second 20-win season in the last three years as Natalie Reagan returns for her third season as the program's head coach. The Beach posted a 22-9 overall record in the 2025 season, tying for second overall in the Big West, but fell in the Big West Championship semifinals to eventual champions Cal Poly. The Beach had five All-Big West honorees, which included a pair of returners in junior setter Madi Maxwell and sophomore outside hitter Sidney Hamaker.

• LBSU's 2-0 start to Big West play marked the third straight season they started conference play with at least two consecutive wins. In 2025, the Beach won 5 in a row at the front of the Big West schedule, a year after winning three straight to kick off the 2024 conference campaign.