Women’s Volleyball Goes On The Road To Repeat Sweep Of Cal State Fullerton

Saturday, October 24

Fullerton, Calif.

2 p.m.

Long Beach State University

16-4,8-2Big West

Cal State Fullerton

6-17,1-9Big West

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Long Beach St.	25	25	25	3
Cal St. Fullerton	13	22	15	0

Photo by: Kat Acosta @photosbyKatAcosta

10/24/2026 5:26:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Sidney Hamaker led the Beach with 14 kills in another sweep of local rival Cal State Fullerton.

By: Joe Reinsch; Assistant Director, Athletic Communications

FULLERTON, Calif. – Long Beach State finished off an impressive weekend sweep of Cal State Fullerton, following Friday's home sweep with a 25-13, 25-22, 25-15 sweep of the Titans in Fullerton.

Powered by sophomore Sidney Hamaker's match-high 14 kills and a 25-assist effort from junior Madi Maxwell, Long Beach State (16-4, 8-2 Big West) hit over .300 for the third consecutive match by hitting .308 on 47 total kills. For the second straight match, LBSU held Cal State Fullerton (6-17, 1-9 Big West) to a hitting percentage below .100 as the Titans hit .097.

The victory marks four straight for the Beach, who have won their last 12 sets since falling behind by two sets of an eventual road win at Utah Valley.

Freshman Kyler Birkelbach recorded 10 kills along with a match-high 5 blocks, and sophomore Izzy Mahaffey collected a match-high 23 digs to help lead LBSU's defensive performance. Junior Pola Bujnarowska and graduate student Reagan Hope both had 4 block assists, helping Long Beach State to 9 team blocks in the match. Sophomore Kinga Ziolkowska was in double figures in assists for the fourth straight match, finishing with 14 assists while serving 2 aces. Maxwell added 6 kills, 5 digs, and 1 block along with her 25 assists.

Long Beach State scored the first three points of the opening set and never trailed. Freshman Kyler Birkelbach got involved early and often, notching her first of 5 kills in the first set during the opening 3-0 run. Cal State Fullerton got within a point seven times after that, cutting the lead to 9-8 before LBSU reeled off an 8-0 run to take control of the set. During the run, Sidney Hamaker had 2 kills, and Birkelbach had 2 blocks and a kill as the Beach extended the lead to 17-8. The Beach scored the final three points of the set on kills from Anabel Kotzakov, Kyler Birkelbach, and Reagan Hope to close out the 25-13 first-set win.

Cal State Fullerton started the second set with the early lead, scoring three quick points before Long Beach State scored five of the next six to take a 5-4 lead early in the set. The Titans tied the score five more times in the set, the last time at 14-14, but LBSU put together a 7-1 run to take their largest lead of the set, 21-15. Kyler Birkelbach had another 5 kills in the set, and Sidney Hamaker had 6 kills, including the set clincher for the 25-22 victory.

Seven different players registered kills for the Beach in the third set, led by Sidney Hamaker with 4 kills on 5 swings in the final set. Cal State Fullerton took an early lead, holding a two-point lead at 5-3 and tying the set three more times after that. Freshman Chloe Johnson had consecutive kills before the Titans tied the score, 8-8, but the Beach went on an 8-0 run from there.

A Fullerton service error started the avalanche, and Pola Bujnarowska and Reagan Hope had a hand in six of the remaining seven points. The pair each recorded a pair of kills, teamed up for a block, and Bujnarowska combined with Sidney Hamaker for another block before Anna Jelinek's ace from the service line. Cal State Fullerton briefly halted the run on a Marisa Nakata kill, but Hamaker notched back-to-back kills before Hope and Kyler Birkelbach stuffed consecutive Titan attacks for a 4-0 run that gave the Beach their largest lead of the set, 20-9. Cal State Fullerton got within seven points, 22-15, but Anabel Kotzakov and Emma Gardner helped close out the 25-15 win with kills in one final 3-0 burst to finish the sweep.

Saturday's match marked the start of the second half of the 18-game Big West Conference schedule. Long Beach State is home for six of the final eight regular season matches, starting next week when the Beach hosts Bakersfield on Oct. 30 and CSUN on Oct. 31. Both matches will be broadcast live on ESPN+.