The 25th-ranked Long Beach State women’s volleyball team avoided its first three-match losing streak of the season Saturday night.
The 49ers swept Big West Conference foe Cal State Northridge in three sets in front of 1,165 fans at the Walter Pyramid. LBSU (12-5, 5-2 Big West) won the match 25-12, 27-25, 28-26.
Sophomore outside hitter Caitlin Ledoux led a balanced 49er attack with 11 kills, six digs and a service ace on .370 hitting. Fifth-year senior middle blocker Naomi Washington added a match-high 14 kills, while Ashley Lee chipped in with a 32-assist, 10-dig double-double. Libero Lauren Minkel contributed a match-high 12 digs.
The Matadors (6-14, 2-5 Big West) were paced by Brittany Williams’ 11 kills.
“Last night was pretty embarrassing,” Ledoux said, alluding to a poor outing in a five-set loss at No. 21 UC Irvine. “We hate disappointing our coaches. They put so much time into us and we want to show them that we actually care. We just basically wanted to prove them wrong; we do care, we do want to play hard.”
Before the match, the players talked about what they “needed to do as a team and individually” to not repeat the previous night’s performance, Ledoux added.
Lee got the 49ers off to a quick start in the third set with a pair of dumps as part of a 5-0 run.
CSUN chipped away to tie the frame seven different times before finally pulling ahead, 24-23, after Washington’s kill attempt sailed wide.
The Matadors were unable to finish off the ‘Niners, however, giving back the lead late in the frame with errant serves on back-to-back occasions.
After CSUN was called for a double contact, Brittney Herzog ended the match with a kill inside the left baseline to give LBSU the 28-26 victory and the sweep.
The Matadors put up a fight in the second set, tying the match at 9 — and again at 19 — before taking a 20-19 lead on a double block from Chelsea Johnson and Angela Hupp.
Four more ties would occur, and CSUN created a set-point opportunity at 25-24. However, LBSU hung on for a 27-25 victory with the help of a double block from Herzog and Jocelyn Neely to pull ahead, while Neely closed the door with a kill on the next play.
The ‘Niners appeared to show up with the same lack of energy from last night’s five-set loss to start the match, quickly falling behind 5-0 in the opening set.
But LBSU woke up and scored 16 of the next 20 points to take a 16-9 lead. The team closed the set on a 6-1 run to cruise to a 25-12 victory, thanks in part to 12 CSUN hitting errors in the frame.
The 49ers return to action next Saturday night against rival Cal State Fullerton. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Walter Pyramid.
But before that, LBSU will welcome back its past stars Friday night with an Alumni Game at the Walter Pyramid at 6:30 p.m.