In its last home game before starting a three-game road trip, the Long Beach State women’s volleyball team swept Cal State Fullerton 3-0 Tuesday at Walter Pyramid.
In the first set, the 49ers went on a 5-1 run, forcing CSUF to use a timeout early.
LBSU went on to win the set 25-12 thanks to a .515 hitting percentage and a number of errors by the Titans.
Senior outside hitter Nele Barber set the pace with six kills, followed by sophomore outside hitter Anete Brinke and freshman middle blocker Krjersti Norveel with four each.
The second set was a repeat for for both teams, as LBSU was able to increase its lead to 14.
Junior middle blocker Ashley Murray had five kills in the set on a night where head coach Brian Gimmillaro put her in a new position.
“We took her out of the middle and put her on the right,”Gimmillaro said. “She was a lot more active than usual and it was good to see her do well.”
The crowd at the Walter Pyramid was treated to a long rally where both defenses did not surrender the point.
Norveel was able to put the finishing touch on the play with a solo block on the Fullerton hitter.
The freshman maintained her presence at the net and the 49ers won the second set, 25-11.
“Kjersti was great tonight,” Gimmillaro said after she came back from an injury. “She’s finally healthy and has had a great three weeks of practice, so she’s ready now.”
CSUF came out looking stronger in the third set jumping out to a 4-2 lead, but did not last long. LBSU got itself back into the set thanks to some mistakes by the Titans along with an impressive offensive attack from the 49ers.
The Titans were able to make the set interesting by putting together eight consecutive points before LBSU was able to clinch the match on a 25-20 third set win.
Barber finished the match with 14 kills, hitting .448 and also led the team with 18 digs. Murray was able to record 11 kills along with Norveel’s nine. Fullerton did not help themselves during the match and ended the night with 14 attacking errors, a costly mistake against a strong LBSU squad.
The 49ers (16-8, 10-1) will get on a flight bound for Honolulu Wednesday morning ahead of their next match against Hawai’i (16-5, 9-1). The two haven’t met since Oct. 8 in the Walter Pyramid, where LBSU won a five set thriller.
The 49ers now sit a half-game up on Hawai’i in the Big West standings. The last time LBSU beat Hawai’i twice in the same season was in 2014 on their way to a conference championship.
