FULLERTON — The Long Beach State women’s volleyball team needed just 1 hour, 9 minutes to sweep the Fordham Rams, 3-0, on Friday at Titan Gym.
Sophomore outside hitter Caitlin Ledoux and senior middle blocker Naomi Washington killed 17 balls apiece, as the 49ers prevailed 25-20, 25-23, 25-17. Setter Ashley Lee distributed a match-high 33 assists, and libero Lauren Minkel chipped in 12 digs for LBSU (6-3).
“We’ve been working all week in practice about seeing the block and being efficient on overpasses,” said Ledoux, who also added a .516 attack percentage and made just one error. “We wanted to show [head coach Brian Gimmillaro] that what we work on in practice actually does pay off.”
As a team, the 49ers hit .333 while limiting the Rams to a .184 mark.
Fordham (8-5) was led by eight kills apiece from Christi Griffiths and Katie Wells.
Ledoux hit .429 with six kills while Washington added five kills and an ace to lead the ‘Niners to a 25-20 win in the opening set.
LBSU recorded 10 of 11 points in one stretch to jump out to a 15-7 lead. Fordam, which committed eight attack errors in the set, responded with six of eight points late in the frame to close the gap to 22-18 but would get no closer.
Washington (eight kills) and Ledoux (seven kills) powered the 49er attack again in set two.
The Rams battled with the 49ers in the frame — which featured eight ties and four lead changes — before LBSU prevailed, 25-23.
Tied at 14, Washington rocked Fordham libero Megan Arend with a kill fired directly at her. After a Rams point, Ledoux did the same with a shot off Brittany Daulton to give the ‘Niners a 16-15 lead.
The Rams tied the contest again at 16 before LBSU seized control with six of the next eight points.
“Caitlin and Naomi were very good,” Gimmillaro said. “[Naomi] tweaked her knee in that second game, so how she started out was fabulous and just wasn’t OK after that.”
Gimmillaro said he’s uncertain how severe the injury is.
Fordham, which saw its six-game winning streak snapped, ran out of gas as the 49ers cruised to a 25-17 victory to close the match.
LBSU will face No. 7 UCLA tomorrow at Titan Gym. First serve is scheduled for 5 p.m.