Photo by John Fajardo
There’s only one way to describe the volleyball that was played in the Pyramid for five matches Saturday night, between Long Beach State and UC Irvine: championship caliber. Which is why it’s fitting, of course, that it was a winner-take-all championship match between the Big West’s most storied program in the 49ers, and a hungry, talented Anteaters team trying to win their school’s first Big West title. In the end, the 49ers came out on top in an impressive team performance, winning it 25-19, 20-25, 25-22, 22-25, 15-10.
The 49ers are now guaranteed their 23rd straight NCAA berth—there are only three other schools in the nation with a streak that long, and only one of them besides Long Beach (Penn State) has had just one coach during their record. “And he’s a little older than I am,” coach Brian Gimmillaro joked after the match, as his team took a lap around the Pyramid to thank the 1,500 vocal fans who showed up in support of the team.
Senior All-American Naomi Washington, who led the way with 26 kills, said, “I have no words, they played so well. There was that sense, every minute, every second, every play—anything could happen…it was just at that championship level. There was a lot of pressure, but we were able to grasp it.”
There were so many back-and-forth moments in the match it’s hard to isolate one turning point, but there was one point in the fifth set that Gimmillaro called, “The backbreaker.” The 49ers had rallied back after falling behind 4-1 to tie it at 4, and then trailed 6-5, as Irvine tried desperately to get some separation. And they did everything they could on that point, too—taking three hard swings. The NIners dug all of them—first, one ricocheted off setter Ashley Lee’s face and bounced in bounds on Irvine’s side. Lauren Minkel and Libby Fontanilla had incredible digs after that, before Caitlin Ledoux finished the point off. After that, Long Beach closed on a 6-4 run to win the conference.
“That was just good, exciting volleyball in the Long Beach State tradition,” said Gimmillaro.
Lee was two kills shy of her second career triple-double with eight kills, 11 digs and 55 assists, while Ledoux added 15 kills as the 49ers hit .316 on the match. The Anteaters had more kills and digs than the 49ers, led by Julianne Piggott and Kari Pestolesi who had 27 and 20 kills respectively.
In the first set, the first of five opening set kills by Michelle Osunbor spotted the 49ers a 6-3 lead, which the 49ers would not relinquish for the first set. A Washington ace put The Beach ahead by five at 8-3, and two kills by Washington later in the set gave the 49ers a 14-8 lead. UC Irvine would cut the 49er lead to four points at 23-19, but kills from Ledoux and Brittney Herzog finished off the first in 25-19 Long Beach State win.
After just three tie scores in the first set, the 49ers and Anteaters played through seven points with no two-point leads until UC Irvine grabbed a 10-7 lead. UC Irvine held onto the lead the rest of the way, hitting .474 in the set. Long Beach State cut the UCI lead down to two at 15-13, but the Anteaters recovered to take a five-point lead at 22-17, and won set two 25-20.
Long Beach State opened up a 6-2 lead after a Washignton-Osunbor block, and that cushion would hold for most of the set, until the Anteaters climbed back to a 16-16 tie. The 49ers came out of the timeout, and took a 20-17 lead following a Ledoux back row kill. The Anteaters cut the lead two one two more times, but a Jocelyn Neel y kill put the 49ers out by two at 24-22 and The Beach closed ou the set one point later at 25-22.
UC Irvine opened a 7-5 lead in the fourth set, and while Long Beach State tied the set at 8-8 after a Pestolesi error, an Alexandra Hauser kill put UC Irvine back out in front by two points. A Pestolesi kill at 18-13 led to a Long Beach State timeout, and while the 49ers pulled back to within one point twic at 19-18 and 20-21, a service error started a three-point run for the Anteaters and a Piggott kill finished the set at 25-22 in favor of UCI.
With LBSU reports