By The Long Beach State women’s volleyball team will continue its season in the NIVC, taking on Santa Clara University on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Walter Pyramid.
The Beach ended the season 12-16 and 9-7 in Big West Conference play, finishing in a tie for fourth place. Long Beach is coming off its best month by far, going 5-2 in November, beating NCAA Tournament bound UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 15 and Cal Poly on Nov. 16.
Wednesday will mark the first time the Beach will participate in the postseason under third-year head coach Joy McKienzie-Fuerbringer. Long Beach is 5-3 all-time against Santa Clara.
Long Beach is led by Big West Conference first-teamers sophomore outside hitter Kashuana Williams and senior middle blocker YiZhi Xue, who lead the team in kills with 419 and 246, respectively. Freshman outside hitter Katie Kennedy, an All-Big West Freshman team recipient, is third on the team in kills with 205.
Defensively, senior libero Hailey Harward anchors the Long Beach defense with 421 digs, only three away from moving into third all-time in program history. Harward also leads the team in aces with 23.
Santa Clara ended its regular season 20-11 with a 10-8 record in the West Coast Conference, finishing in fourth place.
The Broncos are led by freshman outside hitter Julia Sangiacomo, who leads the team in kills with 372, and by redshirt freshman outside hitter Allison Kantor, with 302. Junior libero Gretchen Reinert leads the team in digs with 419.
The winner of Long Beach-Santa Clara will play the winner of UC Davis-Tulsa Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Walter Pyramid.
