The Long Beach State women’s volleyball team wouldn’t need five sets or a quadruple-double from star setter Ashley Lee to close out UC Riverside this time around.
Instead, the 49ers made quick work of the Highlanders — 25-14, 25-14, 25-12 — to capture its fifth consecutive conference victory on Friday in their final Big West match of the season at the Walter Pyramid.
Freshman opposite hitter Delainey Aigner-Swesey made the most of her additional playing time as she paced the ‘Niners with team-tying highs of eight kills and five blocks to go along with an impressive .467 hitting percentage.
“Her performance was wonderful,” LBSU head coach Brian Gimmillaro said. “She’s a really bright kid and a very good athlete … She’s getting better at her new position and she’s a very important point scorer for us.”
Caitlin Ledoux and Haleigh Hampton also added eight kills, while Lee recorded 26 assists — five more than the Highlanders had for the entire contest — to help give Gimmillaro career victory No. 699.
“Victories are great,” Gimmillaro said. “But my concern and focus is with how we play … if you’re not performing and you still win, it’s nice, but our performance was the key [tonight].”
Meanwhile, senior Kelly Simpson paced UCR (2-27, 0-13 Big West Conference) with a match-high 10 kills, which was blemished by a game-high nine attack errors.
After holding a slim 6-5 lead in the third set, The Beach (21-6, 11-3 Big West) went on an 11-0 run to steamroll past the Highlanders thanks to an all-around effort of 16 digs and four blocks.
LBSU then traded points with UCR until Lee came over the top of the net with an overpowering block to seal the set and the match.
Aigner-Swesey owned the net in the second set as she led all players with four kills and four blocks, while Janisa Johnson tallied 10 of her game-high 19 digs to power the ‘Niners to a 25-14 victory.
“Everything just clicked,” Aigner-Swesey said of her performance. “Ashley [Lee] found all the open spots and just knew when to set it up.”
The Highlanders kept the second frame tight in the early going as they trailed 9-7, but a series of soft kills by The Beach kept them off balance as LBSU took nine of the next 12 points. Aigner-Swesey closed out the set as she delivered a kill that barely caught the line.
The Beach struggled in the early-going of the first set before taking its first lead of the contest,10-9, behind a pair of service aces from Laura Schuck and Megan Johnson.
Ledoux anchored the offensive attack for the ‘Niners in the first set with five kills, three of which sparked an 8-1 run to give them a 23-13 advantage. LBSU closed out the set after an attempted smash from the Highlanders sailed long.
The 49ers tallied an impressive 12 blocks for the match and hit .210, while UCR committed 30 attack errors on a dismal -.029 hitting percentage.
“It was really important for us to make a statement and to make up for what we did [the last time] when we played [UCR],” Aigner-Swesey said. “I think [our team] had a pretty good feeling about tonight.”
LBSU will wrap up Big West action with a pair of road games at UC Irvine (6-20, 2-11 Big West) on Thursday and Cal State Northridge (12-17, 4-9 Big West) on Friday. First set is slated for 7 p.m. for both matches.
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