The Long Beach State women’s volleyball team received a gut-check Saturday night.
Not only were the No. 21-ranked 49ers in danger of falling to 0-2 in the Big West Conference, but Olympic gold medalist and LBSU alumna Misty May-Treanor was on hand to see them nearly come undone at the Walter Pyramid.
Rather than fall, though, the ‘Niners persevered and rallied from a two-sets-to-one deficit to knock off Cal Poly — 25-22, 24-26, 21-25, 25-21, 16-14 — thanks to a career-high 29 kills from sophomore Delainey Aigner-Swesey.
“I just think we had something.” Aigner-Swesey said. “The whole time I just felt like we were going to win, even though we were down in the fifth game. I just had a feeling.”
LBSU (7-5, 1-1 Big West) took command of the fourth set, jumping out to a 21-11 advantage, which proved to bolster the squad as it fended off a relentless run from Cal Poly (5-10, 0-2 Big West).
The Mustangs took 10 of the next 12 points to the climb to within two, but The Beach responded with two kills of its own — capped by Aigner-Swesey — to bring the Pyramid crowd of 1,015 to its feet.
The momentum didn’t carry over to the next frame, though — at least not in the beginning. Cal Poly jumped out to an early 8-4 lead following a six-point run.
Down 10-7, the ‘Niners used a Mustang net serve to spark a three-point rally that evened up the set.
After a 10-minute delay, which resulted from an official missing an illegal rotation by Cal Poly, the Mustangs took two of the next three points to take the 14-12 advantage.
However, The Beach rattled off two match-points and scored four answered thanks to a pair of emphatic kills by Janisa Johnson and two Cal Poly attack errors to claim the set and match.
“We needed to win if we want any chance of going to the [NCAA] Tournament,” Aigner-Swesey said. “This is what we needed to stay on top for conference.”
Aigner-Swesey finished with a .333 hitting percentage. Her previous high in kills was 10, which she achieved twice. Her 29 kills also outnumbered her career-high in attempts, which was 26.
Freshman setter Erin Juley added a career-high 57 assists on .125 hitting.
The third set provided a stretch indicative of the back-and-forth play that lasted throughout the match as the score was tied for six straight points. However, the Mustangs used a six-point rally in the late-going to take the set.
Sophomore outside hitter Kristina Graven paced Cal Poly with 28 kills on .253 hitting.
LBSU out-hit the Mustangs .218 to .199 for the match.
“This was a completely different lineup,” LBSU head coach Brian Gimmillaro said of his team, which is missing its two senior captains Caitlin Ledoux and Michelle Osunbor. “It had some problems, but we had to get some pressure off the youngest people.”
Gimmillaro continued: “Bree (Mackie) for example, played right side. She has never played one play at the right side in her life and here she is playing right side as a freshman.”
The ‘Niners will return to Big West action against Cal State Northridge at the Matadome on Friday night at 7 p.m.
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