SANTA BARBARA — The No. 21 Long Beach State women’s volleyball team squandered a 2-0 lead and lost to UC Santa Barbara in five sets – 33-31, 25-16, 19-25, 21-25, 11-15 – Friday night in front of 816 fans at the Thunderdome.
The 49ers scored the first two points of the final set, but the lead didn’t last long. The Gauchos went on a 7-0 run thanks in large part to Stacey Schmidt, who contributed on six of the points.
LBSU (11-4, 1-1 Big West Conference) tried to get back into the contest with its blocking, pulling to within 13-9 on its fourth block of the set. But the 49ers’ triple block attempt at the net was unable to stop Charlene DeHoog’s 17th kill of the night to end the match.
“We had the adrenaline and the momentum,” UCSB head coach Kathy Gregory said. “To come back from 2-0 against a caliber of team like [LBSU], I’m so proud.”
LBSU head coach Brian Gimmillaro met with his team for more than an hour after the match and was unavailable for comment.
Caitlin Ledoux finished with 21 kills and a career-high 26 digs to pace LBSU. Junior libero Lauren Minkel added 20 digs.
The 49ers failed to hit better than .111 in each of the final three sets.
UCSB (9-6, 3-0 Big West) was led by DeHoog, who added 15 digs to record a double-double. Kara Sheppard chipped in 15 kills and 10 digs while Schmidt finished with 14 kills.
The Gauchos never trailed the fourth set and won, 25-21, to force the deciding frame.
Trailing 18-12, LBSU used its serve to get back into the set, but UCSB picked up a sideout on a errant serve to maintain a 21-18 lead and pulled away.
The Gauchos avoided the sweep with a 25-19 victory in set three. Neither team could grab more than a two-point lead midway through the frame until Janisa Johnson’s attempt fell short of the net to give UCSB a 17-14 advantage.
“I told them after the second set that we’re better than this,” Gregory said.
UCSB stretched the lead to 21-16 until Hampton sparked a mini run to pull the 49ers to within two points and force a Gauchos timeout. Gregory’s squad responded and closed the set with four consecutive points.
The Beach was able to take a commanding 2-0 lead by stifling UCSB to a -.056 hitting percentage. By the end of two sets, the ‘Niners had 11 team blocks.
The 49ers won a hotly contested opening set, 33-31, that featured 18 ties and six lead changes. LBSU hit .304 as a team in the frame.
LBSU will travel to San Luis Obispo to face Cal Poly on Saturday night. First serve is schedule for 7 p.m.
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