By The Long Beach State women’s volleyball team lost in three straight sets to Cal Poly, 25-22, 25-23, 25-19 in the Big West Conference opener Tuesday, at the Mott Athletics Center.
Sophomore outside hitter Kashauna Williams led the Beach (3-10, 0-1 Big West) with 14 kills while freshman outside hitter Katie Kennedy added 12. Sophomore setter Carly Aigner-Swesey dished out 33 assists and senior libero Hailey Harward scooped up 12 digs.
Cal Poly (8-5, 1-0 Big West) started off well in the first set, forcing Long Beach to take a time out early on. It didn’t help much as the Mustangs continued their solid play, leading to a score of 24-20. Long Beach made the set close, scoring two straight points and forcing a timeout, but a kill from Cal Poly’s sophomore middle blocker Madilyn Mercer gave them the opening set.
The second set was the tightest of the three, as both teams traded leads back and forth. The Beach led 23-22, but then came a string of unfortunate plays. A service error, a double block by Cal Poly, followed by a kill from freshman outside hitter Maia Dvoracek gave the Mustangs set two, ending with a score of 25-23.
Long Beach trailed 18-12 in the third set, but wouldn’t go down easily as it went on a 4-1 run, sparked by junior middle blocker YiZhi Xue’s block to trim the lead to 19-16.
The Beach couldn’t get any closer, as the Mustangs sealed the game at 25-19 after a kill from Mercer, giving them set three and the match.
Dvoracek led Cal Poly with 19 kills and Mercer chipped in eight. Senior outside hitter Nikki Jackson had 35 assists while freshman libero Mika Dickson added 17 digs.
The Mustangs’ home winning streak extended to 25, which is the longest active streak in the nation since October 2016.
Long Beach will return to action Friday, at the Walter Pyramid against Hawai’i at 7 p.m.
