Milestone reached in women’s volleyball win over UCI

Senior outside hitter Quincy Verdin surpassed 1,000 kills in her career as 25th-ranked Long Beach State defeated the UC Irvine Anteaters in five sets Wednesday night.

The 49ers won 25-20, 21-25, 25-18, 21-25, 15-13 at the Walter Pyramid to inch one step closer to the Big West Conference title.

Coming into tonight’s contest, Verdin was just four kills shy of the 1,000 mark. She became the 14th player in school history to accomplish the feat. The last player to do so was Alexis Crimes in 2007. Verdin finished the game with 15 kills, six digs and one block.

“What? I didn’t know,” a shocked Verdin asked when told about the milestone. “Are you serious? When did I get that? I didn’t know … I didn’t know.”

Head coach Brian Gimmillaro was also unaware of that Verdin was on the verge of reaching that coveted mark.

“She came here [from high school] right after she had reconstructive knee surgery,” Gimmillaro recalled. “Then, she had another knee surgery when she got here to take care of the first [surgery] she had … Quincy having 1,000 kills is pretty spectactular given her physical problems she’s had.”

Gimmillaro added that Verdin was playing with a pulled ab muscle.

Long Beach State (22-4, 11-2 Big West) also was led by freshman outside hitter Caitlin Ledoux, who had a team-high 18 kills and 21 digs, and senior middle blocker Naomi Washington, who also hit double figures with 13 kills.

In the decisive set, senior setter Nicole Vargas, who recorded 50 assists and 12 digs, quickly gave the 49ers the lead with a surprising kill that caught UCI off guard. Key plays by Brittney Herzog, Cat Highmark, Verdin and Ledoux were the difference in the critical set.

“We struggled the fifth game, we really did,” Ledoux said. “But we pulled it together.”

The Anteaters (14-12, 9-4 Big West) were led by senior outside hitter Lauren Kellerman, who had a match-high 23 kills, and sophomore outside hitter Kari Pestolesi who finished with 14 kills and 29 digs. Pestolesi’s brother, Tommy, is a member of the men volleyball team at LBSU.

The first set featured a controversial call which brought UCI within one point at 21-20. The Beach responded with three straight points, which included Verdin’s fourth kill of the set and the milestone. Set point featured a furious rally for the last point and an Iris Murray dig helped secure the set for Long Beach.

The Anteaters jumped out to an early lead in the second set and never looked back as they led the entire way to win, 25-21. UCI improved its hitting percentage by blasting .333 compared to a lowly .062 in the first set.

Long Beach responded to their rivals by never trailing in the third set on its way to a 25-18 win. Washington had five of her 13 kills in that pivotal set to lead the 49er attack after the intermission.

UCI was able to hold off Long Beach in the fourth set despite Ledoux’s six kills. Washington added four kills in the set but it was not enough to close to door on the Anteaters’ chances as they fought to force a fifth set.

Tomorrow night the 49ers will take on the UC Riverside Highlanders at the Walter Pyramid at 7 p.m.