By Long Beach State rallied behind the energetic home crowd of over 1,600 fans that filled the Walter Pyramid for its home opener against Northwestern University to secure a 3-1 victory on Sept. 5.
The Beach and the Wildcats entered Thursday’s contest with identical records, both searching for their first wins of the year after 0-2 starts.
After dropping the first two matches of the season in Oregon without winning a set, LBSU looked to regroup in a building they dominated a season ago.
Familiar contributors along with the help of newcomers led The Beach and interim head coach Natalie Reagan to her first career win as head coach.
Redshirt junior Jaylen Jordan serves up the game-winning kill for Long Beach State, sealing a 3-1 victory over Northwestern University at the Walter Pyramid. Photo credit: Mark Siquig
The first set looked as expected from the two teams, with a sense of urgency on both sides.
The Beach’s rotation included several underclassmen, including redshirt freshman libero Sarah Vellucci who got the start.
“[The upperclassmen] leadership is really impressive, to see them empowering the younger girls to be their own leaders and lead in their own way,” Reagan said.
The first set featured nine ties and three lead changes, but The Beach ultimately prevailed to the score of 25-23, which was sealed by redshirt senior Abby Karich’s 11 kills, which tied senior outside hitter Natalie Glenn for a game-high.
“My mindset going into this year is just I’m so grateful that my body is allowing me to finish my career strong and be back on the court with my teammates,” Karich said.
The women’s volleyball team mob redshirt junior Jaylen Jordan after sealing a 3-1 victory for The Beach at the Walter Pyramid on Thursday night. Photo credit: Mark Siquig
Northwestern responded in a marathon second set, fighting off a resilient Beach team that forced the Wildcats to play for the set point repeatedly. It took 16 ties before Northwestern was able to finally cap off a 29-27 set win after an attack error from Glenn.
Even at 16 apiece midway through the third set, a prolonged rally ended with a thunderous spike by Glenn to give The Beach a one-point advantage and ignite the LBSU crowd. From that point on, Long Beach State would outscore the Wildcats 8-1 to take hold of the lead and the momentum, winning set three 25-17.
“We want our athletes to feel unlocked like that, so having those big points and being able to play the point all the way through is something that we talk about all week long,” Reagan said.
Repositioned from her traditional spot as libero, senior defensive specialist Savana Chacon displayed her value in the back row as the server for the final four points of the game-altering run.
The momentum shift carried into the fourth set, with The Beach jumping out to a 3-0 lead. LBSU led from start to finish with their largest lead spiking to 11 in the set.
Senior setter Zayna Meyer served as the offense’s premier facilitator, something Beach fans are used to seeing, tallying a season-high 31 assists en route to winning the set 25-15 and the match 3-1.
Long Beach State and Northwestern clash once more back at the Walter Pyramid on Saturday at 4 p.m. as The Beach look to sweep the season series and get to .500 in the young season.
