Women's Volleyball Returns Home For Final Two Weeks Of Regular Season Play

Friday, November 13

Long Beach, Calif.

7 p.m.

Long Beach State University

UC Riverside

Tickets From $9 - $19

Photo by: Kat Acosta

11/12/2026 1:40:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Game Notes - Week 12

Long Beach State was one of the first 25 Division I women's volleyball programs to 20 wins this year, and the Beach hosts their final four matches of the regular season.

By: Joe Reinsch; Assistant Director, Athletic Communications

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Long Beach State returns home for the final four matches of regular-season play with postseason implications in play the rest of the way. The Beach pulled within 1 victory of first place in the Big West with last week's five-set win over Cal Poly, which was previously unbeaten in conference play. The win at UC Santa Barbara secured LBSU's place in the Big West Championship, while a top-two seed and the accompanying first-round bye in the postseason tournament is within reach this weekend.

RIGHT AWAY
• Junior setter Madi Maxwell recorded triple-doubles in both of Long Beach State's road wins at Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara, her fourth and fifth this season as she moved up to second in Division I in triple-doubles. Maxwell now has seven career triple-doubles.

• Last week's wins over Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara lifted Long Beach State to its third 20-win season in the past four seasons, and it marked the first back-to-back 20-win campaigns since the Beach had three in a row from 2014-16. Long Beach State is one of the first 25 teams in Division I to reach the 20-win plateau this season.

• The Beach won 18 straight sets over three weeks entering last week's trip to Cal Poly, and Long Beach State's overall win streak is up to 8 matches. During the streak, LBSU is holding opponents to just .120 hitting while averaging 13.28 kills, 1.34 aces, 2.62 blocks, and 15.05 digs per set.

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.

SEASON IN BRIEF
• Season Opener: 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 started their remaining portion of the non-conference slate with a 3-win weekend at the Utah Classic. LBSU started with a sweep of 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.

• 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. Hamaker saved her best for LMU, which was 7-1 at the time, making 15 kills on .480 hitting in the sweep of the Lions. Madi Maxwell won Big West Setter of the Week after guiding LBSU to .242 hitting over the week.

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

• Big West (Week 1): Madi Maxwell won Big West Defensive Player of the Week, leading Long Beach State to two road wins and posting the program's first 10-match win streak since 2014. Maxwell registered 13 blocks and 28 digs in the two-match week, and 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.

• Big West (Week 3): In its Big West home opener, Long Beach State scored a four-set win to hand UC Santa Barbara their first conference defeat. Sophomore Sidney Hamaker led the way with 14 kills and 5 aces, while junior setter Madi Maxwell posted 7 blocks and 17 digs. Cal Poly swept LBSU the next day to remain unbeaten in conference play despite 14 kills from Hamaker.

• Big West (Week 4): LBSU lost the first two sets at Utah Valley and trailed 24-21 in the third set. The Beach rallied to win, 27-25, then rallied from the same 24-21 deficit again for another 27-25 win in set 4. In the fifth, LBSU scored 7 straight for a 9-2 lead and cruised to a 15-6 win. Kyler Birkelbach was outstanding in the sweep at Sacramento State with 12 kills on .750 hitting.

• Big West (Week 5): Long Beach State swept Cal State Fullerton at home and away to claim sole possession of second place in the Big West. Izzy Mahaffey had 41 digs on the week, including a career-high 23 digs in Fullerton; Reagan Hope led the offense at home with a career-high 11 kills.

• Big West (Week 6): Long Beach State extended its win streak to 6 (including 5 straight sweeps), beating Cal State Bakersfield and CSUN at home in three sets at home. The Beach held both opponents to hitting percentages under .100, registering 9.5 blocks and 8 aces against CSUN.

• Big West (Week 7): The Beach went on the road to beat Cal Poly, previously unbeaten in Big West play, in five sets. A day later, Long Beach State beat UC Santa Barbara in four sets, extending the LBSU win streak to eight. Junior setter Madi Maxwell recorded consecutive triple-doubles.

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 in 2025, drawing over 23,000 fans to the Pyramid. In 2026, six of the nine home matches have drawn over 1,000 fans, including four matches of 1,500-plus. The Beach average attendance of 1,536 this year ranks third among California schools (behind Stanford and USC) and ninth among mid-majors.

SETTER SPOTLIGHT
• Junior Madi Maxwell ranks second in Division I in triple-doubles, recording her fourth and fifth triple-doubles in consecutive road wins over Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara. The preseason All-Big West selection has seven career triple-doubles, and it was the first time she has accomplished the feat in consecutive matches. Maxwell is a three-time Big West Setter of the Week recipient this year, most recently after leading Long Beach State to road wins at Utah Valley and Sacramento State, recording her third triple-double of the season against Utah Valley. The 6-foot-2 setter also won Big West Defensive Player of the Week Sept. 28 after she led the Beach to road wins at UC Irvine and UC San Diego to open conference play. She has nine career Big West weekly honors (six Setter, one Defensive Player, and two Freshman) and was a 2025 Second Team All-Big West honoree.

• Sophomore Kinga Ziolkowska has played in every set for 11 consecutive matches, recording 127 of her 135 assists this season (94 percent) in the past eight matches. 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 a front row attacking role.

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 21 times in 24 matches, averaging a team-high 3.66 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 four 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 142 kills on the year, averaging 1.78 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. She was most recently in double figures with 11 kills in the five-set win at Cal Poly.

• Senior Kendal Murphy has played a key role for the Beach after transferring from Baylor. Starting 16 of 24 matches this season, Murphy has 18 service aces and has made 113 kills on the year. Murphy set a season-high with 11 kills against San Jose State.

BLOCK PARTY
• Long Beach State is averaging over 9 blocks per match this season and ranks third in the Big West (40th in Division I) in blocks, averaging 2.52 blocks per set. The Beach lead the Big West and rank 12th nationally (Division I) in opponent hitting percentage, limiting opponents to just .154 hitting. Pola Bujnarowska is third in the Big West in blocks per set (1.16).

• Junior Pola Bujnarowska is becoming a consistent force in the middle, posting at least 3 blocks in 12 of LBSU's 14 Big West matches this season. She had a monster match against Wyoming, making 10 blocks against the Cowgirls, and she added 8-block performances against Washington State and UC San Diego along with a 7-block effort in a sweep at Sacramento State. The junior is averaging 1.16 blocks per set overall, which has increased during Big West matches to 1.24 blocks per set. She has played in 22 matches, starting 20 times, hitting a team-high .359 with 126 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 Hope has 65 total blocks while hitting .269 on the year. She had a career-high 11 kills to lead Long Beach State's Oct. 23 win over Cal State Fullerton.

• Freshman Kyler Birkelbach is on a recent run of success during the current 8-match win streak, posting 54 kills on .342 hitting with 38 blocks over the stretch. In the Oct. 17 win at Sacramento State, Birkelbach had a career-high 12 kills on 16 attacks for .750 hitting, the best of the season by any LBSU hitter with at least 12 kills in a match. In the same match, she tied a career-high with 7 blocks and added 2 aces, also a career-best. In the decisive third set, she had 5 kills on 7 swings and 5 blocks after going for 5 kills on 5 swings in the second set. She also finished strong in the five-set win at Washington State, collecting 4 kills on 6 swings to close out the win. The 6-foot-3 middle blocker has 35 blocks over the past seven matches.

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.

• Izzy Mahaffey has 127 digs during LBSU's current eight-match win streak, averaging 4.38 digs per set over that span. Mahaffey had 18 digs at home against Cal State Fullerton Oct. 23 and set a career-high with 23 digs in the road rematch on Oct. 24. A week earlier, Mahaffey was the Big West Defensive Player of the Week (Oct. 19) after her then career-high 21 digs at Utah Valley, with 13 of those in the final two sets, and 19 digs at Sacramento State. Mahaffey has played in every set, making 218 digs while providing a boost at the service line with 17 aces on the year. Jelinek ranks third on the team in digs, averaging 2.57 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 72 sets as a defensive specialist, including a start, and making 11 aces so far.

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 secured the program's third 20-win season in the last four years as Natalie Reagan has posted back-to-back 20-win campaigns in 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 went 10-0 in the month of September, going undefeated in September for only 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).