The rollercoaster-like season for the Long Beach State women’s volleyball team will approach its next twist Friday and Saturday.
The 49ers (11-5, 1-2 Big West Conference), who fell out of the top 25 national rankings, will face UC Davis and Pacific on back-to-back nights. Both matches will be played at the Walter Pyramid and start at 7 p.m.
Junior defensive specialist Laura Schuck said Monday that the team’s confidence was “kind of low” after dropping its last six sets in losses at UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly last week.
“We’re going through a lot of stuff and we have to figure out, as a team, how to come back up,” Schuck said. “It’s hard, but I think it’s a step that we need to take, as well. Not every good team has every good game.”
LBSU was coming off a stretch that included wins in six of its last seven contests.
Head coach Brian Gimmillaro said Wednesday that the team “just ran out of gas.”
“We did everything we could and then the second night we were just … gone,” he said.
Gimmillaro added that “almost everybody on the team” has a cold or throat problems. But he said he has been pleased with the “level of practice” the past two weeks and was optimistic that the results would translate in victories.
The opponents won’t get any easier for the ‘Niners, who will first face the conference-leading Aggies (12-4, 4-0 Big West). LBSU has won all 11 meetings between the teams dating back to 2004, including a pair of 3-0 sweeps last season.
UCD is hitting a league-best .256 in 16 sets against Big West opponents, and junior middle blocker Betsy Sedlak leads the nation with a .478 mark. Ranked behind her among the Big West leaders is LBSU freshman middle blocker Haleigh Hampton (.395).
Aggies freshman setter Jenny Woolway will be coming off a week that included 52 assists and a career-high 25 digs against Cal State Northridge. The performance led to recognition as Collegiate Volleyball Update’s national player of the week.
Friday’s match will also be Breast Cancer Awareness Night, and fans wearing pink shirts will be admitted for $3.
The Tigers (10-5, 3-1 Big West) snapped out of their own funk last week. Pacific has won three straight matches after dropping three in a row.
Senior outside hitter Svenja Engelhardt leads the team in kills per set (4.33), which ranks second in the Big West. LBSU junior outside hitter Caitlin Ledoux trails behind in third (3.87).
The Beach leads the all-time series, 33-26, as the teams have been able to protect home-court advantage in recent years.
Injury update
Jocelyn Neely, a sophomore outside hitter who has been sidelined all season with a left ankle injury, has been practicing and participating in pregame warm-ups the past few weeks.
“She’s almost back, physically,” Gimmillaro said. “Now, it depends on how quickly she can catch up. … Her jump has to come back, but I think that will take some time.”
A timetable has not been set for Neely’s return, but Gimmillaro said, “She’s a long ways away.”
RPI released
LBSU was ranked second among Big West members when the NCAA released its first Ratings Percentage Index of the season Monday.
Cal State Fullerton led the conference and ranked 36th in the nation. The 49ers came in at No. 41.
The RPI ranks the nation’s teams based on wins, losses and strength of schedule, and helps the selection committee determine at-large bids for the NCAA tournament in December.
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