Beach Volleyball, Sports, Women's Sports

Long Beach State dominates on Senior Night

The Long Beach State Beach Volleyball team beat California State University- Los Angeles (CSULA) and Fullerton (CSUF) on Thursday during the final two home games of the season.

LBSU defeated CSUF (3-2) in their rematch after losing (3-2) in their first matchup earlier in the season.

At one point the duel was tied at 2-2, with winning points coming from the freshmen duo of Taylor Hagenah and Malia Gementera. The duo of senior Emily Mattoon and sophomore Haley Carrington also won.

LBSU closed out the duel with a victory from the sophomore duo Natalie Glenn and Megan Widener, with a straight sweep win.

The Beach later faced CSULA in the afternoon in their last match at home.

They dominated the Eagles, as four of the matches were won by straight sets. LBSU’s defense was on full display as they held the Eagles to 11 points or less in those four matches.

Hagenah and Gementera continued their impressive freshman campaign as they defeated junior Eliza Cannon and freshman Jameson Sanders holding them to only nine total points.

04/06/2023 - Long Beach, Calif: LBSU Beach Volleyball team doing the wave to energize their teammates for the very last match of the day.
04/06/2023 - Long Beach, Calif: LBSU Beach Volleyball team doing the wave to energize their teammates for the very last match of the day. Photo credit: Mark Siquig

The sophomore duo of Christine Deroos and Holly Jackson put the Beach up 3-0 after defeating freshman Tehya Chadwick and senior Beatriz Jimenez.

Glenn and Widener finished their day off strong as they held sophomore Emily Elliott and freshman Zuhal Cetin to 13 points total, winning. Freshman Kate Stoughton and senior Emily Mattoon defeated the sophomore duo Jaden Grova and Ayjah Landers to give LBSU a 4-0 lead.

But the pair of freshman Julia Westby and redshirt junior Sydney Stevens completed the 5-0 sweep for LBSU as they came back to win their match after losing the first flight to senior Ashley Dittmann and sophomore Iane Henke.

Defense fueled the comeback for the Beach as their blocking skills were on full display. They ended up winning the last two flights as LBSU defeated CSULA 5-0 in a dominant showing by the Beach.

“Very satisfied, Pepperdine was the match we obviously wanted to avenge,” said head coach Mike Campbell. “Cal State LA has a really good team coached by an alum (Alexis Crimes), but we were excited to play both of these games and come out with a win.”

LBSU celebrated their seniors Mari Molina, Emily Mattoon, Sydney Stevens and Maggie Walters prior to the matches.

“Obviously this was senior day and there’s always a lot of energy and anxiousness,” said Campbell. “I’m happy all of our seniors did well and managed to help out the team today with the results.”

LBSU will play their last remaining duels versus Florida State in San Luis Obispo, with just one more week remaining before the Big West Championships.

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