Instead of going straight into its routine stretches an hour before its crucial Big West Conference match with UC Santa Barbara, the Long Beach State women’s volleyball huddled around head coach Brian Gimmillaro.
“He just said, ‘Be prepared … and don’t remember what happened last night,'” said outside hitter Janisa Johnson, alluding to a four-set loss to Cal Poly.
The 49ers answered their coach’s plea, sweeping the Gauchos — 25-20, 25-19, 25-23 — Saturday night at the Walter Pyramid.
The teams traded points to a 16-16 tie in the final frame before the ‘Niners went on a 6-1 run to put the Gauchos on the wrong end of the broom. UCSB answered to pull within 24-23 on a Dana Vargas dump past Haleigh Hampton at the net, but Hampton closed the match with her team-leading 10th kill.
Hampton also hit .348 and added four blocks to lead LBSU (17-6, 7-3 Big West) and keep its hopes of a third consecutive conference title alive. Johnson, who was sidelined with a concussion last night and was not expected to play until an hour before the match, collected nine kills on .318 hitting and eight digs.
“[Johnson] had to go through a test and … had to warm-up and do the test again,” Gimmillaro said. “She had to pass it after there was some physical activity.”
Johnson said that the tests involved a series of questions and memorization, including reciting the months in reverse order. She added that she fainted in the Student Health Center while being treated for a throat infection and hit her head on a ledge.
The Gauchos (13-11, 7-4 Big West) were powered by Charlene DeHoog’s match-high 12 kills and seven digs.
The win puts LBSU a full game behind Cal State Fullerton (19-5, 8-2 Big West) for first place in the conference standings. The Titans defeated Cal Poly (18-7, 8-4 Big West) in four sets Saturday night at Titan Gym.
LBSU won the second set, 25-19, to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
UCSB overcame a quick four-point deficit and used a 5-0 run to take a 9-8 lead, and the teams stayed close through the midway point. Leading 20-19, the 49ers closed the set with their own 5-0 run capped by a kill from Johnson.
The ‘Niners were helped to a 25-20 victory in set one by four Gauchos serving errors and eight hitting errors.
Trailing 18-15, UCSB went on a 3-0 run to tie the set at 18, but The Beach scored the next four points en route to victory.
LBSU will head to Northern California for a pair of matches next week. The 49ers will face Pacific on Friday and UC Davis on Saturday. Both matches are scheduled for 7 p.m. starts.
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