Beach Volleyball Wins Two More Matches Saturday At The Big West Challenge

Saturday, March 21

Long Beach, Calif.

8 a.m.

Long Beach State University

CSUN

Beach Volleyball Wins Two More Matches Saturday At The Big West Challenge

3/21/2026 12:52:00 PM | Women's Beach Volleyball

Long Beach State is now 4-0 with two more matches coming Sunday at the Big West Challenge.

By: Roger Kirk, Associate Athletics Director, Communications & Broadcast

LONG BEACH, Calif. – No. 11 Long Beach State Beach Volleyball continued their strong play at home, winning two more matches at the Big West Challenge, hosted by the Beach at Rosie's Dog Beach. The Beach held on to defeat CSUN 3-2 and then rolled to a 5-0 sweep of UC Davis.

Long Beach State (14-4) rolled to a pair of quick wins at the top of the dual against CSUN (2-12). Malia Gementera and Taylor Hagenah defeated Hannah Heflin and Maleya Miles 21-8, 21-14, while Kiara Edwards and Savannah Standage also won in straight sets 21-16, 21-16 to stake the Beach to an early lead.

Playing for the second time this season in the lineup, Sammy Okano and Nicole Lankton fell at the fives to give CSUN a point, and Dylan Hall and Ava Rogers won in three sets over Victoria Henkel and Mahala Esser to turn the match to the threes.

Demi Wagdy and Madi Maxwell were up for the challenge, though, defeating Jill Rodig and Zaria Henderson 18-21, 21-16, 15-11 to clinch the win for the Beach.

In the day's second match against UC Davis (3-11), the Beach bounced back with a sweep of the Aggies. Henkel and Esser rebounded with a convincing two-set win over Skye Smolinski and Kate O'Steen, 21-14, 21-18. A second point came as Tineke Hinton and Wagdy moved back up to the second flight and grabbed a straight sets win as well, 22-20, 21-13. Despite playing a third set, Gementera and Hagenah rallied for a win and clinched the match with a 13-21, 21-15, 15-7 win over Kimi Waller and Ella Erteltova.

Standage and Edwards also won in the third flight, and Kealoha Phillips and Brooke Birch closed out the sweep with a three-set win in the fifth flight.

Long Beach State will finish the final day of the Big West Challenge from Rosie's Dog Beach on Sunday. LBSU will host nine more matches, playing in two with a key ranked matchup against No. 3 Cal Poly at 11:30 a.m. before playing in the final match of the tournament against Cal State Bakersfield at 5:20 p.m. Live scoring throughout the day will be found at beachlivestats.statbroadcast.com.

#11 Long Beach State 3, CSUN 2
1) Malia Gementera and Taylor Hagenah (LBSU) def. Hannah Heflin and Maleya Miles (CSUN), 21-8, 21-14
2) Kiara Edwards and Savannah Standage (LBSU) def. Tia Mendiola and Ainsley Patrick (CSUN), 21-16, 21-16
3) Demi Wagdy and Madi Maxwell (LBSU) def. Jill Rodig and Zaria Henderson (CSUN), 18-21, 21-16, 15-11
4) Dylan Hall and Ava Rogers (CSUN) def. Victoria Henkel and Mahala Esser (LBSU), 21-18, 9-21, 15-10
5) Haley Coggins and Daysha Halbert (CSUN) def. Sammy Okano and Nicole Lankton (LBSU), 21-14, 21-19
Order of finish:1, 2, 5, 4, 3

#11 Long Beach State 5, UC Davis 0
1) Malia Gementera and Taylor Hagenah (LBSU) def. Kimi Waller and Ella Erteltova (UCD), 21-13, 15-21, 15-7
2) Tineke Hinton and Demi Wagdy (LBSU) def. Kinley Lindhardt and Anna Braun (UCD), 22-20, 21-13
3) Kiara Edwards and Savannah Standage (LBSU) def. Kendal Steller and Morgan Gillinger (UCD), 21-16, 24-22
4) Victoria Henkel and Mahala Esser (LBSU) def. Skye Smolinski and Kate O'Steen (UCD) 21-14, 21-18
5) Kealoha Phillips and Brooke Birch (LBSU) def. Ava Berard and Kirra Martin (UCD) 23-25, 21-10, 15-10
Order of finish:4, 2, 1, 3, 5