By The Black and Blue Rivalry lived up to its name as Long Beach State women’s volleyball and the UC Irvine Anteaters battled for over three hours, with the Anteaters emerging victorious with a 3-2 win at the Walter Pyramid on Oct. 18.
The Beach were coming off back-to-back wins, but the Anteaters spoiled their chances of a conference winning streak on ASI night with 2,200 people in the building.
“That first set was, I believe, 45 minutes, and I don’t know how many challenges went back and forth,” LBSU head coach Natalie Reagan said. “It’s always tricky playing a game like that where it’s stop-and-go; it’s really hard to feel flow or feel like you’re getting in rhythm.”
LBSU powered through the first set with firm receiving, overcoming UCI’s servers, who consistently applied pressure on LBSU’s defense.
Senior setter Zayna Meyer was instrumental in spreading the ball around to her hitters and kickstarting the offense, finishing with nine kills, nine digs and 46 assists.
UCI slowed the game down with numerous challenges and two timeouts in the first set. Each time the players returned from the breaks, the energy from redshirt freshman outside hitter Jaida Harris’ kills ignited The Beach.
Redshirt freshman outside hitter Jaida Harris (white) finished the game with a career-high 14 kills, second behind senior outside hitter Abby Karich, who had 15 kills. LBSU finished the game with more kills; however, it was not enough to beat UC Irvine as they lost 3-2 at the Walter Pyramid. Photo credit: Mark Siquig.
The fifty-minute-long first set featured seven ties and two lead changes, ultimately swinging in favor of The Beach, who clinched a 28-26 victory in overtime. UCI did not go down without a fight, battling through three set points, with LBSU coming out on top.
“Momentum is just a feeling. That’s when we put our heads down and grind,” Harris said. “So that’s what’s cool about challenges is that both teams get to reset.”
Although the consistent pauses and resets took a toll on Harris, she still totaled a career-high 14 kills by the end of the long game.
Redshirt senior Abby Karich and senior outside hitter Natalie Glenn joined her with double-digit kills themselves — Karich led The Beach with 15 kills, and Glenn added 13.
The second set saw six ties and three lead changes. UCI pulled away after the set was tied at 21, scoring three straight points and eventually closing out the set 25-23.
The Beach’s energy began to wane after the second set, but they rallied to close the gap on the Anteaters, who led 16-11 in the third until a Karich-led run pushed The Beach to a third-set victory of 25-16.
The Beach struggled early in the fourth set, falling into a deficit as large as 12 points.
The deficit was ultimately too much to overcome, with the fourth set going to Irvine 25-17.
The gritty theme of the night carried into the fifth and final set, with LBSU surging to a 9-6 lead and extending it to 13-9, just two points from securing a victory over its rival. However, UCI was not ready to back down.
A 5-0 Anteater run gave them the lead as they held on to take the set 17-15, and the Black and Blue Rivalry match 3-2.
“Sometimes, the biggest lesson we’re learning right now is that less can be more,” Raegan said.
LBSU faces another rival in California State University, Fullerton, at the Walter Pyramid on Saturday, Oct. 19 at 4 p.m.
