Abbey’s View:
While there is something to be said about teams on a hot streak (Colorado Rockies at the moment, most notably), those win streaks do snap (’07 Dirtbags’ 13-game win streak snapped by UC Riverside, USC’s 35-game home win streak snapped by Stanford in the biggest upset college football history).
No. 24 Cal Poly may just be the one team to snap women’s volleyball.
The two teams match up very evenly: They have the two best hitters in the conference: Long Beach State’s Alexis Crimes who is arguably one of the best college volleyball players in the country, and Cal Poly’s Kylie Atherstone. LBSU leads the Big West Conference in hitting percentage while Cal Poly leads in blocks. LBSU ranks second in kills and assists; Poly leads in service aces.
There’s no doubt about the fact that these are the two teams to beat in the conference. The only problem is Cal Poly always seems to beat LBSU.
The 49ers fell to the reigning Big West champion Mustangs twice last year, and already once this year. Just one player graduated from Poly’s 2006 team, and the team’s veteran experience shows.
LBSU has had its time in the sun; Crimes is extremely feared. People expect the 49ers to be good. But no one expected the Colorado Rockies to be good this year, and look at them now.
Poly was a sleeper team last year. The Mustangs broke into the rankings with a lesser reputation than LBSU. The Mustangs want to prove to everyone they are a dominant volleyball powerhouse, much like LBSU is known as.
Both teams are extremely strong, but playing against six ranked teams, Cal Poly included, the 49ers have pulled off only one win, a 3-2 victory over Ohio University in the Denver Pioneer Classic.
The 49ers were riding a nice little 4-game win streak the last time they faced Cal Poly, and the Mustangs downed them in three games. LBSU was held to a .217 attack clip, was out-hit 52-43 and out-blocked 9-8 with no solo blocks while Cal Poly had two.
If the 49ers want to beat the Mustangs in the conference, they are going to have to go deep. Cal Poly’s back row suffers. Poly’s Kristin Jackson trails LBSU’s Talaya Whitfield with digs per game (5.45) in the conference with 5.18, but their back row defense nearly stops there.
The 49ers have Cynthia Buggs and Ashley Lee covering the back row, averaging 3.18 and 2.92 digs per game, respectively. Between Crimes blocking at the net, her and Quincy Verdin knocking in kills virtually every other possession, and full-court defensive coverage, LBSU is the better overall team. But Cal Poly has proved once again this year that it is the 49ers’ Achilles’ heel.
Bobby’s View:
Well, to be the 49ers’ advocate here, I have to stress the one thing that Long Beach State has that the other teams do not have right now: momentum. LBSU is on a major roll right now, winning four straight games and eight of its last nine.
No. 24-ranked Cal Poly stands as the only team that can truly hinder LBSU’s chances, but that can all be erased if the 49ers are successful against Pacific – the only team to have defeated Cal Poly this season.
Besides the win-loss column, LBSU has arguably the best player in the conference. Senior middle blocker Alexis Crimes is leading the conference in kills and blocks per game (4.75, 1.47), which makes her equally dangerous on offense and defense. Her experience, size and leadership ability have kept the team in every game.
Crimes is not the only threat wearing black and gold, senior libero Talaya Whitfield has been another consistent contributor to the team’s defense, leading the conference in digs per game with five. Although she has not played as many games as other liberos in the conference, Whitfield has made her presence felt in every contest, diving for digs and making key plays all over the court.
Not only must opponents worry about the 6-foot-3 Crimes, but also 6-foot-4 senior middle blocker Michaela Hasalikova, another player with 100-plus kills. Hasalikova is sometimes in action at the same time as Crimes, which results in the reinvention of the “Twin Towers.” No offense, New York City.
Strength of schedule plays a big role down the stretch. LBSU has lost five games, but all of them were to ranked teams. Let’s not include Cal Poly, whom I refuse to accept as a better team. Cal Poly’s biggest win this season may have been against LBSU, because the Mustangs’ win over BYU is tarnished now that the Cougars dropped out of the top-25 polls. Meanwhile, LBSU has beaten an actual ranked team this season, as it bested No. 21-ranked Ohio in five games.
UC Irvine is tied with LBSU and Cal Poly for the Big West conference lead so far, but it has no résumé strong enough to make noise. Despite a close loss to No. 4-ranked USC, the Anteaters were dominated by LBSU in four games at The Walter Pyramid last month.
There is no escaping the facts here. LBSU is contentious because of the hardships it dealt with in the team’s frustrating start, which included the loss of senior setter Dyanne Lawlor via internship. The team has worked through the tough times to make things even tougher on the rest of the conference.
Momentum, consistency and experience will give LBSU its 10th Big West conference title and 22nd consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
