After splitting a two-game road trip in Northern California, the Long Beach State women’s volleyball team returns to the friendly confines of The Walter Pyramid to open Big West Conference play against UC Santa Barbara (6-6) Friday and No. 20 Cal Poly (9-4) Saturday.
Last week, The Beach fell in three games to Sacramento State but rebounded to take three straight from UC Davis. Long Beach State looks to ride the momentum of the three-game sweep over UC Davis as it prepares to battle UCSB and Cal Poly.
The Beach, co-champions of the Big West last season, along with UCSB, was the preseason pick by the conference coaches to win the Big West in 2006.
The Beach has struggled against UCSB recently, losing seven of the last eight meetings. The Beach did snap a seven-game losing streak against UCSB when the two teams met last October, but still owns a losing record against them.
In UC Santa Barbara’s last match, five players carried the offense with double-digits in scores. In that match, UC Santa Barbara was led by Brett Quirarte who had 17 kills.
Maybe the biggest threat to The Beach’s hope to repeat are the nationally-ranked Cal Poly Mustangs. The Mustangs boast an impressive (9-4) record with three of their four losses coming against nationally-ranked opponents.
The Beach has been successful against the Mustangs, winning 24 of the last 27 meetings, but split the season’s series last season.
The Beach will look for offense from its top two scorers, sophomore Quincy Verdin and junior Alexis Crimes, who are averaging 3.23 and 3.07 kills, respectively. Sophomore Nicole Vargas has been dictating the 49er offense, averaging a team-high 11.95 assists per game.
Friday night against UCSB, The Beach plans to unveil its new Prospector Pete mascot. The newly-designed mascot will be available for an autograph session after the game.
