With a winning record, the Long Beach State women’s volleyball team is ready to compete in Big West conference play. The team will open its regular season at home with a match at 7 p.m. against UC Riverside.
The 49ers have won five out of their six last matches, and have been steadily improving each game to prepare for regular season.
“I’m really happy with our performance going into the conference,” said head coach McKienzie-Fuerbringer. “Our last two were good matches where we stayed steady, we didn’t have a lot of dip in our play or energy.”
Long Beach (8-5) is currently placed fourth in the big west, below Cal Poly (10-1), UC Davis (8-4) and UC Santa Barbara (8-4). While the team started off shaky, it seems to have found its groove, leading the league in blocks with 2.3.
The 49ers will enter conference play behind a great start from junior Hailey Harward and freshmen Kashauna Williams. The outside hitters lead the team in kills with 2.96 and 2.75, respectively.
“I think we have more notches to reach as our setters develop and our offense develops so I feel very confident going into the season,” McKienzie-Fuerbringer said. “I think we’re healthy and playing at a good level. We just have to see if we can keep executing and get to those next couple of notches, we’ve got a lot of tough teams in conference.”
Long Beach finished last season with a conference record of 7-9, but with a much improved team, it looks to establish itself as a force in the Big West.
“We’ve put in the time and work and built some trust within the team. I feel very confident with our team, I think we’re playing well,” McKienzie-Fuerbringer said. “I think we’re where we want to be, a lot of our goal is playing at a high level for a long period of time and we’ve proven to do that.”