The Long Beach State women’s volleyball team extracted some revenge within the Big West Conference Friday night at the Walter Pyramid.
The 49ers avenged a four-set loss to the University of the Pacific in early October with a four-set victory of their own over the Tigers. LBSU won the contest, 25-14, 21-25, 25-15, 25-22, behind Naomi Washington’s match-high 21 kills on .395 hitting.
Sophomore outside hitter Caitlin Ledoux added 13 kills and three other 49ers contributed at least six kills. Setter Ashley Lee added a double-double with 45 assists and 12 digs, while libero Lauren Minkel netted a team-high 21 digs.
The 49ers (15-6, 8-3 Big West), which hit .308 as a team in the contest, improved to a perfect 5-0 at home in conference matches.
“I thought we made as many really good plays as we did weird plays. The combination was very unusual,” head coach Brian Gimmillaro said. “We’d make a foolish play to give them a point and a great play to get a point.”
UOP (16-8, 6-6 Big West) was led by Svenja Engelhardt’s 16 kills and Dancyne Kama’s match-high 24 digs. But the Tigers hit just .159 in the match, including two sets under .100.
Neither squad could gain much of an advantage midway through set four until the Tigers took a 15-12 lead after three consecutive scores.
The 49ers fought back with a 3-0 run of their own to tie the set at 17 and continue a back-and-forth affair that resulted in 18 ties.
Tied at 22, Ledoux rocked back Tigers setter Pihanakealoha Kea with a kill and LBSU sent the contest to match-point on a triple block by Brittney Herzog, Lee and Ledoux.
“Our block was so much better this game,” Washington said, alluding to the team’s 10 1/2 blocks in the contest compared to UOP’s four.
Ledoux then capped the match with a kill to give the ‘Niners a 25-22 victory in the frame.
LBSU raced out to a 7-2 lead in set three and never looked back, maintaining a comfortable lead the rest of the way.
Leading 21-15, the ‘Niners closed out the frame with four consecutive points capped by an emphatic Washington kill to slam the door on a 25-15 victory.
“[Pacific] is a very different team when they’re at home,” Washington said. “At Pacific, we just couldn’t pull it together. Our defense was all over the place.
“Brian [reminded us] what happened last time — ‘You weren’t in front of your hitters’ — so that’s what we worked on, blocking as a team.”
The teams battled to a 13-13 tie to open the second set, but the Tigers took control briefly with back-to-back points including a Natalia Tomaszewska block to take a 15-13 lead into a 49er timeout.
The Beach responded with its own two-point advantage when Lee and Herzog teamed up for a block and UOP was called on the net to give the ‘Niners a 19-17 lead.
The set then unraveled for LBSU.
Ahead 21-20, the Tigers were awarded a controversial point when the 49er bench argued that a Washington kill attempt appeared to hit the floor, but the referees thought otherwise. Later in the same rally, UOP extended its lead to 22-20 despite what appeared to be a no-call for being over the net on the kill attempt.
Gimmillaro protested the call, pleading to the referees to “ask [each other] for help.”
“What is wrong with getting [the call] right?” Gimmillaro continued to ask during the ensuing timeout. Instead of receiving an answer, he was given a yellow card for the second time in the past two matches.
LBSU appeared to be out of sync the remainder of the set and lost, 25-21.
After trading the first 12 points in the opening set, the 49ers scored six of the next seven points to force a UOP timeout and take a 12-7 lead.
LBSU extended its advantage to as many as 11 points on the final score of the frame. Minkel made an athletic dig to keep the rally alive, and Ledoux finished the set with a kill that trickled off the net and gave the ‘Niners a 25-14 victory.
The 49ers return to the court tomorrow night against Big West-leader UC Davis (18-8, 9-3 Big West) at the Walter Pyramid. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.
“We could be in first place or tied possibly with Santa Barbara [at the end of the night],” Gimmillaro said. “It depends on what Santa Barbara does the rest of the way. I’m not really concerned with what they do, I’m concerned with what we do.”
LBSU, which trails UCD by one-half game in the standings, swept the Aggies earlier this season on the road in early October. Washington is confident the 49ers can sweep the season series.
“We just have to stay focused,” Washington said. “We beat Davis in three [sets] at Davis, but it wasn’t a big deal. Right now, we notice Davis is doing good. They’re in first place in our conference and we’re just like, ‘What?’ It surprised everybody.
“We know Davis off the back of our hand — what they’re going to run before they even try to run it.”