By Sonny Tapia
The Long Beach State Women’s Volleyball team defeated its opponent, University of California Riverside on Thursday in five sets with heart and motivation.
The win moved The Beach to a five game winning streak, making its last loss coming at the beginning of October against the University of Hawaii.
This win did not come easily, it was a back and forth game, with one set going to The Beach and the other going to the Highlanders over and over.
LBSU junior opposite hitter Katie Kennedy smacks the ball back toward UCR junior outside hitter Delaney Tate (#19)and senior middle blocker Isabella Scarlett (#14) on Thursday for one of her 14 points. Photo credit: Sonny Tapia
LBSU Women’s Volleyball Head Coach Tyler Hildebrand said that the Highlanders are one of the better serving teams in the conference.
Although UCR put up a total of seven service aces in the game, it was not enough to keep LBSU from living up to the challenge and winning 3-2.
Long Beach redshirt junior outside hitter Morgan Chacon tied her career high in kills with 26 for the night.
“During the first two sets, there was another level that we knew we could get to as a team,” Chacon said. “There were a couple things we were struggling with and we were just trying to focus on that sense of urgency.”
The back and forth game between LBSU and the UCR Highlanders finally ended after five sets as LBSU redshirt junior outside hitter Morgan Chacon leaps into the air to spike the ball topward to her opponents on Thursday. Photo credit: Sonny Tapia
As Chacon was put on the spot in the game to make plays, she said that every athlete can understand that it’s about the confidence going into the game or play.
The redshirt junior stayed humble, praising her team for coming together, while her teammate junior opposite hitter Katie Kennedy followed suit.
Kennedy had 14 kills of her own in the game, along with 38 total attacks to add to the strong offensive effort put on by The Beach.
“A big thing we knew we needed to improve after the second set was our blocking, defense and effort,” Kennedy said.
LBSU players show their emotions during the rollercoaster of a game Thursday, which turned into a win for The Beach against University of California Riverside. Photo credit: Sonny Tapia
She continued and said that in volleyball you can’t control everything, but the things you can control need to be dealt with and that being able to play and trust each other on the court is a factor that they stress to one another.
The players for LBSU ended the game by walking off the court with smiling faces after the win.
Hildebrand walked with a smile as well, saying heart was what won the game for The Beach and he was proud of his team and what they were able to do.
LBSU head women's volleyball coach Tyler Hildebrand shares smiles with his team during Thursday's win against UCR after five sets. Photo credit: Sonny Tapia
“We served well tonight and I thought our floor defense was really good tonight,” Hildebrand said.
The Beach will try to move the winning streak to six in its next game on Oct. 22 against the University of California Davis at Davis.
