With a convincing 25-10, 25-20, 25-10 road sweep of the University of the Pacific on Friday night the Long Beach State women’s volleyball team claimed their 12th Big West Conference championship and found themselves dancing straight into the NCAA Tournament for the 25th consecutive year.
The ‘Niners join Penn State, Stanford, and Nebraska as the only programs that have accomplished such a feat.
The 49ers (18-6, 12-2 Big West) were in control throughout, hitting .416 against a Pacific team that dropped to 16-11 on the season. The 49ers held the Tigers to .047 hitting, due in part to a big blocking that improved their average to 13. Senior libero Lauren Minkel led the defense with 16 digs.
Senior outside hitter Caitlin Ledoux picked up her sixth double-double of the season, leading the team with 12 kills on .346 hitting, while making 11 digs. Freshman serve specialist Tyler Jackson had three aces and 10 digs, while sophomore middle blocker Haleigh Hampton hit .571 with 19 kills for the 49ers.
The Beach took an early lead in the first set behind the serving of Jackson. After dropping the first point, the 49ers found Hampton and freshman outside hitter Delainey Aigner-Swesey for two kills each. A Jackson ace put the 49ers in front 7-1. With a stronghold on the set, Long Beach State blocked their way to an even bigger lead, picking up a 14-5 advantage on two consecutive blocks from freshman outside hitter Bre Mackie and freshman middle blocker Alma Serna.
Jackson’s second ace of the set put the 49ers on top 22-9, and Long Beach State closed out the set 25-10. The 49ers hit .591 in the opener, making 14 kills on 22 attempts with just one error.
Jackson’s third ace of the match gave the 49ers a 2-0 lead in the second set, and The Beach never trailed, despite the set being closer. Taking a 12-8 lead on a kill from Ledoux, the 49ers found the senior again to cap a push to 17-10. The 49ers led 23-15 on a Hampton kill, and held off a four-point rally from the Tigers to finally capture set point at 25-20.
With a chance to put away the match in the third set, the 49ers never looked back. With two blocks from Mackie and Hampton along with an ace from Minkel the ‘Niners stormed out to a 7-0 lead, and after a side out, scored five more with Jackson serving finishing with a solo block from Hampton to take a 12-1 lead. Long Beach would eventually take an 18-3 lead, and picked up sideouts the rest of the way to seal a berth in the tournament with a 25-10 win.