The injury-plagued Long Beach State women’s volleyball team used the last of ten lead changes to give itself a two-sets-to-none advantage and a dose of much-needed momentum for the third set to claim a sweep — 25-18, 31-29, 25-12 — over the University of Idaho on Friday night at the Walter Pyramid.
The victory came without the services of starting outside hitter and kills leader Caitlin Ledoux who is out with a shin injury. Sophomore middle blocker Haleigh Hampton (foot) and freshman outside hitter Alma Serna (ankle, calf) played despite their injuries.
“It’s really hard right now,” said Hampton, who anchored the 49ers’ overall attack with 13 kills on .591 hitting. “A lot of or starters are out and we’re really young on the court. It’s hard having so much inexperience, but the players we have out there have fight and we know no matter who we play, we’re going to fight against them.”
In Ledoux’s place, Long Beach (6-4) turned to freshman Bre Mackie, who held her own with seven kills and three blocks against the Vandals (4-6) in her first collegiate match.
Down 29-28 in the second frame, LBSU delivered three straight points to secure the game, 31-29. The final blow was the second set-point opportunity for the ‘Niners after a 25-24 serve went wide.
Long Beach seemed to have the game in-hand early when it took a 7-1 lead, but the Vandals roared back with eight straight points to gain the 8-7 advantage. The topsy-turvy set two harbored 18 of the match’s 20 tied scores and 10 of its 11 lead changes.
“It was really important for us to come back from that,” Hampton said. “We really just needed to get out of our own heads, finish that game strong and lead into the third game.”
Head coach Brian Gimmillaro added: “Just like it’s been working against us, losing those tough ones, we reversed it tonight. Everyone played well in the end of game two.”
The battle in set two provided the Beach with all the momentum it would need to dominate the third and final frame by a score of 25-12. The ‘Niners controlled the set from the onset and built an insurmountable lead by rattling off a match-high nine consecutive points for a 13-3 edge.
The streak of points was sparked by a run of masterful serving by Hampton who had three aces in the stretch.
“Hampton was great tonight,” Gimmillaro said. “She played exceptionally well.”
Also leading the way for the ‘Niners were junior outside hitter Janisa Johnson who had 11 kills on .304 hitting and freshman setter Erin Juley who compiled a match-high 38 assists on .333 hitting.
Idaho senior outside hitter Alicia Milo had a match-high 14 kills, but posted a dreadful hitting percentage of just .050.
LBSU dominated offensively as it out-hit Idaho .327 to .093 for the match.
The Beach will return to the Pyramid next Friday to open up Big West Conference play against UC Santa Barbara at 7 p.m.
Disclaimer: The Daily 49er is not responsible for Postings made on www.daily49er.wpengine.com. Persons commenting are solely responsible for Postings made on this website. Persons commenting agree to the Terms of Use of the website. If Postings do not abide by the Rules of Conduct or Posting Regulations as listed in the Postings Policy, the Daily 49er has all rights to delete Postings as it deems necessary. The Daily 49er strongly advises individuals to not abuse their First Amendment rights, and to avoid language suggestive of hate speech. This site also encourages users to make Postings relevant to the article or other Postings.
