This was not the way the Long Beach State women’s volleyball team expected to start out their trek to a Big West Conference title.
A questionable call late in the final set and a match point rally won by UC Santa Barbara that seemed to last a lifetime, ended what The Beach hoped to be a victory in their Big West home opener.
The ‘Niners dropped a hard fought match to the Gauchos in five sets, 19-25, 25-18, 23-25, 25-23 and 15-11.
‘Niners head coach Brian Gimmillaro stormed off the court in disbelief after he lit into the referees following the controversial call.
The Beach was called on the net, which gave a point to the Gauchos, giving them a 14-11 lead in the fifth set. The call wasn’t well-received by the Long Beach players, fans and Gimmillaro, who begged for an explanation he never got.
Both he and LBSU players were not available for comment after the game.
The ‘Niners registered a woeful .135 hitting percentage. Janisa Johnson led the way for the 49ers with 13 kills on 42 attempts, posting a .214 hitting percentage. Johnson also dug a game-high 24 balls.
Freshman setter Erin Juley also had a strong all-around game. Juley had eight kills on 17 attempts (.412 kill percentage), 31 assists and 13 digs.
The Beach were down early in the first set to the Gauchos, but rallied behind 11 digs Johnson and two kills and three assists from Juley to take it 25-19. UCSB’s All-American Stacey Schmidt struggled in the opening set coming up empty in the kill department while committing four errors for a hit percentage of -.800. UCSB has been struggling with their serves all season, and showed no signs of improvement early on as it registered five service errors.
The second set started to get away from the ‘Niners about midway through as they trailed 5-9. The 49ers couldn’t overcome the solid hitting from USCB sophomore outside hitter Leah Sully, who tallied four kills in the set and 13 for the match.
The ‘Niners chipped their way back into it, however, bringing the set back within a point, 16-17, behind more UCSB errors. The rally from The Beach could not be sustained, though, as Schmidt got back into All-American form and helped finish off the LBSU, 25-18.
Haleigh Hampton started off the third set with a bang for The Beach, blistering her first kill attempt directly into the hardwood, leaving UCSB with no opportunity for a return. The play was back-and-forth through the entire set, with neither side leading by more than four points. However, three more USCB service errors, and some inspired blocking by Alma Serna, proved to be too much for the Gauchos to overcome. Serna had her hand in four straight LBSU points.
Despite jumping out to an early 5-0 lead in the fourth set, The Beach couldn’t find a way to come out on top as it dropped the set, 25-23. After being down big early, UCSB came right back with four points of their own, including an ace from Schmidt. Johnson continued her stellar play, scoring five points in the fourth frame, but her efforts were to no avail as UCSB’s Kara Sherrard and Schmidt killed the fourth set.
The fifth set started off nicely for the ‘Niners, who took an early 5-2 lead, but again, they couldn’t hold off the Gaucho comeback led by Schmidt, Sherrard and Sully. A Schmidt tip put The Beach down 7-9 in the set, but Libby Fontanilla came up with a surprise performance for the 49ers, scoring three straight points to even up the score at 10. In the end, despite 17 service errors from UCSB, The Beach floundered to the finish line to drop the fifth set, 11-15.
The ‘Niners will be back in action Saturday at 7 p.m. against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo at the Walter Pyramid.
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