An injured neck could not prevent Naomi Washington from lifting No. 22 Long Beach State past UC Santa Barbara, which had been 3-0 against ranked opponents coming into Friday’s tilt at the Walter Pyramid.
The senior middle blocker swatted seven of her match-high 23 kills in the fifth set as the 49ers (9-3, 2-0 Big West Conference) clipped the Gauchos, 25-18, 25-22, 20-25, 18-25, 15-11 to stop UCSB’s winning streak at six. The Beach, playing in its first home Big West match, had been away from the Pyramid since Sept. 5.
“Naomi was heroic because she was injured,” LBSU head coach Brian Gimmillaro said. “In the beginning, she couldn’t be herself but I thought she was great.”
The 49ers also received a double-double from sophomore Caitlin Ledoux, who had 15 kills and 14 digs. Senior Brittney Herzog contributed 10 kills, four block assists and a solo block.
Washington, whose injury was detected during a recent MRI scan, hammered the 49ers’ first three kills in a grind-it-out deciding set. The third, which came off an Ashley Lee dig to keep the rally alive, put the hosts up 3-2 and they never relinquished the lead. Lee registered 15 digs to go with five kills and 50 assists.
The 49ers also received a strong defensive outing from freshman Libby Fontanilla, who finished the match with 10 digs to join a quartet of ‘Niners — led by Lauren Minkel’s 18 — in double-figure dig totals.
UCSB senior Rebecca Saraceno poured seven of her team-leading 19 kills in the Gauchos’ decisive fourth set win. The Gauchos crushed the ball at a .379 clip in the frame.
Gimmillaro was booked for a yellow card in LBSU’s set four loss after arguing that a Saraceno kill should have been ruled an attack error.
“[The referee] was justified in giving that yellow card,” he said. “Even though I was standing on the line and saw the ball go one foot out.”
The Gauchos reeled off five straight points to wrap up a third set victory, which closed out on an LBSU net violation. The Beach was contained to .059 hitting after posting eight attack errors in the set.
The third set loss also halted the 49ers’ streak of consecutive sets won at 14. The Beach last dropped a frame back on Sept. 12 when the team rallied to steal a five-set win at Tulane.
“I thought we would win each set,” Gimmillaro joked. “The [Big West] is better this year. It’s been a tough road for everyone in this conference.”
The 49ers squeaked away with a second set win after finishing the frame with three consecutive points coming out of a timeout.
LBSU had a much easier time winning the first set, stifling the Gaucho offense to .062 in the frame. UCSB grabbed an early 9-8 lead until the ‘Niners scored five straight points to take control of the set.
The 49ers return to the court Saturday night against Cal Poly (5-11, 1-2 Big West), which lost to Cal State Fullerton 25-11, 25-14, 25-17 on Friday night. Gimmillaro isn’t taking the floundering Mustangs lightly, considering the team stockpiled the No. 9 recruiting class in the nation as rated by prepvolleyball.com.
“Cal Poly’s a talented team, even though they’re not playing well right now,” he said.
Game notes:
Former 49er assistant coach Debbie Green, who stepped down after last season, was on the sideline for the Gauchos as a volunteer assistant coach. Green, who previously spent 23 seasons on Gimmillaro’s staff, is the mother of current UCSB setter Dana Vargas.