The Long Beach State women’s volleyball team returned to the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s top-25 on Monday after a short hiatus.
The 49ers are now sitting at No. 25 after a starting the season 10-3 overall and going 2-1 against ranked opponents.
“I’m excited, I did not see [getting ranked] coming,” junior outside hitter Nele Barber said. “I mean we won against Duke and San Diego, which was really cool. But I didn’t know that, I’m really excited.”
After going down 2-1 against then No. 25 Duke on Aug. 29, LBSU fought back to take the fourth and fifth sets to make an early statement in the season. Barber totaled 19 kills and 13 digs to pick up her first of 12 double-doubles this season.
In similar fashion, the 49ers went down 2-1 against then No. 21 San Diego last Friday. Again, Barber led the team with 16 kills and 13 digs as LBSU fought back to take the final two sets.
“It’s always a special motivation to play against a ranked team,” Barber said. “For me it’s like, we’re playing a good team, we can’t really lose. We can only play better.”
LBSU entered last season’s NCAA Tournament ranked at No. 15. After sweeping the University of San Diego and falling to UCLA in the tournament, the 49ers finished at No. 19 in the final poll.
UCLA is the only top-25 team to get the best of LBSU this season. The then 14th ranked Bruins defeated the 49ers in four sets last Friday.
The Bruins have since moved up to No. 13, while Duke and San Diego are no longer ranked.
The 49ers start conference play this weekend against UC Davis on Friday and UC Irvine on Saturday. Both games are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at the Walter Pyramid.