The Long Beach State women’s volleyball match started with an ace and ended with an ace by The Beach in a three-game sweep of Saint Mary’s College, 30-25, 30-23 and 31-29, Thursday night.
Despite the sweep the 49ers (6-2) struggled throughout most of the match and relied upon their depth, height and a balanced attack to overcome deficits in every game in which the team eventually prevailed against the Gaels (3-4).
It was the second meeting between the Gaels and The Beach. The Gaels, which have never beaten LBSU, came out inspired and midway through the first game the 49ers trailed by seven points (16-9). After coach Brian Gimmillaro called a timeout and shuffled his lineup, Gimmillaro then inserted 49ers Dyanne Lawlor and Quincy Verdin into the game.
The two provided an immediate spark, propelling the 49ers to score the next eight points and cruise to the 30-25 win. Lawlor had 11 assists and 3 digs in the game, while the frontcourt was led by Verdin who had 7 kills in game one. Iris Murray contributed with 5 digs.
The second game was more of the same as The Beach again found itself trailing and needing a rally before eventually pulling away and winning the game 30-23. LBSU was led by Lawlor again, who had 14 assists, while Robin Miramontes led the frontcourt with 6 kills.
In the third game, LBSU had to overcome being down by five points twice and fight off four game point chances by the Gaels. LBSU trailed the entire game and was down 26-29 before it scored the next five points to secure the three-game sweep.
Lawlor had a match-high 36 assists combined with 5 digs and 4 blocks. Verdin led LBSU with 14 kills and two digs. Miramontes had 12 kills and 7 digs while Alexis Grimes and Michaela Hasalikova had 11 and 9 kills, respectively. Iris Murray led both teams with 11 digs and 2 aces.