Women's Volleyball

Harward makes history in CSULB women’s volleyball loss to No. 11 Florida

The Long Beach State women’s volleyball team battled, but fell short to No. 11 Florida in five sets, 25-27, 25-16, 25-20, 19-25, 19-17 on Saturday in the finale of the Florida Tournament at the O’Connell Center in Gainesville, Florida.

Despite the loss, senior libero Hailey Harward had 19 digs to move past Misty May-Treanor (1262 career digs) for sixth on the Long Beach State women’s volleyball all-time dig list.

The Beach led 24-22 in set one, but the Gators went on a 3-0 run to give them set point at 25-24. Long Beach made a comeback however, as they went on a 3-0 run courtesy of a kill from freshman setter Tia Chavira, a kill from senior middle blocker YiZhi Xue and a Florida error to take set one 27-25.

In set two, Florida proved why they’re a potential favorite to win the SEC, as it took the set comfortably 25-16.

In set three, CSULB led 14-12 until the Gators went on a 9-3 run, forcing a time out from the Beach. Long Beach was unable to recover, as Florida took the set 25-20.

Down 2-1 in the match, the Beach never trailed despite being challenged late in the set, as they took set four 25-19.

In set five, Long Beach jumped out to a 6-2 lead, forcing a Gators time out. CSULB led 8-5 at the side change and eventually led 11-7, forcing Florida to use their last time out.

But the Gators went on a 3-0 run to force the Beach to take a time out. After the time out, Florida took its first lead of the set 13-12, until Long Beach scored two straight points to put it at match point 14-13.

CSULB was unable to close out the match, as it had four match points but was unable to convert any of them. The Gators eventually led 18-17 and ended the match off of a double block from Thayer Hall and Lauren Dooley.

Long Beach State returns to action Thursday at 7 p.m. against San Diego State at the Aztec Court at Peterson Gym.

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