By snoadmin
RIVERSIDE — The nation’s first quadruple-double this season from Ashley Lee was nearly wasted Saturday night until teammate Haleigh Hampton made it stand up.
The Long Beach State women’s volleyball team avoided a colossal upset to Big West Conference cellar-dweller UC Riverside in a five-set thriller in front of a frenzied 234 fans at the UCR Student Recreation Center. The 49ers edged the Highlanders, 23-25, 25-17, 25-18, 26-28, 18-16, in 2 hours, 29 minutes.
The 49ers raced out to a 9-4 lead in the final set, but the Highlanders, like they did all night, stormed back with a 5-0 run to tie the frame. The teams then battled to six more ties, and UCR even had a match-point advantage at 16-15.
But Hampton led the way with a kill and a double block with Lee, and Highlanders senior outside hitter Kelly Simpson hit wide to give LBSU the 18-16 victory and the match.
“[UCR] played exceptionally well,” LBSU head coach Brian Gimmillaro said. “That [was] spirited defense they were playing.”
LBSU (15-5, 5-2 Big West) was led by Lee’s 50 assists, 13 digs, 10 blocks and 10 kills.
“I actually didn’t think I had the best performance,” she said. “But I am really excited that I did get the quadruple-double.”
Hampton added 14 kills on .321 hitting and 12 blocks.
“RPI is really important to us,” Hampton said. “I feel like, maybe, we didn’t take [this match] as seriously as we should have. But we pulled through in the end and made sure we finished our job.”
Gimmillaro added, “Haleigh came up huge. If it weren’t for Haleigh, we would’ve been in really big trouble in that last [set].”
Caitlin Ledoux chipped in with a match-high 21 kills to pass assistant coach Erika Chidester for 12th place (1,112 kills) on LBSU’s all-time career list. Not to be left out of the record book watch, junior libero Lauren Minkel recorded 22 digs to become the 11th player in LBSU history to reach the 1,000-dig plateau. Lee accomplished the feat last night.
UCR (2-18, 0-6 Big West) was paced by a gutsy 19 kills and 17 digs from sophomore outside hitter Shelby LeDuff. The Highlanders limited the 49ers to an .083 clip in the fifth set but hit a woeful -.065 themselves.
Ten LBSU hitting errors and a missed opportunity late in the fourth set sent the match to a fifth set.
Leading 24-21, the ‘Niners watched the Highlanders battle back while facing set-point to tie the match at 24. Highlanders setter Courtney Wypiszynski then delivered a service ace, but Hampton and Janisa Johnson gave LBSU a 26-25 lead. However, UCR scored three consecutive points to force the deciding frame.
“We’re making way, way, way too many mistakes,” Gimmillaro said. “When the game was on the line, we made way too many mistakes. Those mistakes have never been part of Long Beach State volleyball and they are now.”
Little-used Megan Johnson sparked LBSU to a 25-18 victory in the third set.
After a block by Lee and Hampton gave the 49ers a 14-11 lead, Johnson served on four consecutive points to help The Beach pull away.
The ‘Niners tied the match at a set apiece with a 25-17 victory in set two.
LBSU led 15-8 at the media timeout and maintained the advantage throughout most of the set, until Hampton closed the frame with a service ace. The team hit .308 while limiting the Highlanders to a .121 mark in the set.
LBSU wasted an early five-point advantage and dropped the opening set, 25-23.
The Beach raced out to an 8-3 lead after a quick dump by Lee, but UCR fought back to tie the set at 16. Hampton tied the set for an eighth occasion, this time at 23, but UCR won the final two points including a block by Annishia McKoy to end the frame.
The 49ers will play just one match next week, a road affair Saturday with Cal State Fullerton. First serve at Titan Gym is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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