By Sonny Tapia
Long Beach State University pushed the streak to eight consecutive wins against California Polytechnic State University on Saturday in five sets.
The Beach has played five consecutive five set games and won all of them.
The key to that success, said LBSU head coach Tyler Hildebrand, is that the team is the best passing team in the Big West Conference.
Cal Poly senior opposite hitter Maia Dvoracek came into the game with skill when it came to serving for aces.
“The challenge as a coach is to prepare for a serve like that…without freaking everybody out,” Hildebrand said.
LBSU women's volleyball head coach Tyler Hildebrand talks with his team during a timeout, during the team's five set win against Cal Poly on Saturday. Photo credit: Sonny Tapia
Dvoracek had 28 aces and 13 errors in the last six games which, to Hildebrand, was a little unheard of.
“The way we respect Dvoracek’s serve is by having a great mindset going into it,” Hildebrand said.
During the game, LBSU took the first set by a score of 25-19, while Cal Poly fought back in the second set winning 25-22.
The second set was controlled for most of the period by Cal Poly, but LBSU started to hit its shots on the court, storming back to tie the set at 22. This did not last long once a call that was challenged by Cal Poly went its way.
During Saturday's game against Cal Poly, LBSU junior opposite hitter Katie Kennedy dives for the ball during the team's win. Photo credit: Sonny Tapia
Sets three and four were the exact same scores, but flipped at 25-16, with The Beach taking the third set and Cal Poly winning the fourth.
The pressure mounted as The Beach was challenged by the Mustangs mid-way through the fifth and final set.
Cal Poly took the lead by two points and kept it nearly even the rest of the way.
The Beach overcame the challenge when Cal Poly’s redshirt freshman outside hitter Lizzy Markovska and redshirt sophomore outside hitter Tommi Stockham recorded back-to-back attack errors.
LBSU redshirt junior outside hitter Morgan Chacon tips the ball over the net in The Beach's win against Cal Poly on Saturday.
LBSU redshirt junior outside hitter Morgan Chacon led the team in kills with 15 of its 55 in the game.
Chacon also finished with two aces and 11 digs in the game.
Chacon said that she never feels like there is a time when someone doesn’t have her back because of the togetherness.
“I think these five set battles, where it’s up and down a lot, like the second and fourth, we’re losing by a lot and trying to battle back, but this team is together all the time,” Chacon said.
The Beach smiles as it is awarded a point during the team's eighth consecutive win Saturday against Cal Poly at the Pyramid. Photo credit: Sonny Tapia
A conference shift for LBSU senior middle blocker Callie Schwarzenbach has brought out a bit of a challenge when it comes to blocking, even though she recorded six block assists in the game.
“The Big-10 had a lot of big girls and coming here it has been a bit of a challenge for me blocking wise, because I’m not used to having 6’6 girls across the net,” Schwarzenbach said.
LBSU will face off against California State University Fullerton on Nov. 1 at home in the Pyramid hoping to move their win streak to nine.
