From Reports By Long Beach State Sports Information Department
A big night from junior Brittney Herzog was not enough to counter an equally solid performance from Cal State Northridge’s Brittney Williams, as the 49ers fell on the road at Cal State Northridge 25-19, 22-25, 23-25, 25-18, 10-25 Friday night. With the loss, the 49ers will have to wait until tomorrow for a second chance to clinch the conference championship.
Herzog led the way for the 49ers with 16 kills on .538 hitting, and Quincy Verdin chipped in 14 kills for The Beach to lead the way. The Matadors countered with Williams, who hit .516 and had a team-leading 19 kills. Defensively for The Beach Iris Murray led the way with 17 digs while Lauren Minkel chipped in 12.
Cal State Northridge’s effort in the upset was aided by 18 kills from Siara Grayson along with 9.5 blocks, most of which came off the arm of freshman Caitlin Ledoux. Ledoux, while finishing with 13 kills also made 13 attack errors, finishing a tough night for the outside hitter. The Matadors as a team hit .282 and finished with .429 hitting in the deciding set.
Long Beach State trailed early in the opening set, and both teams had a hard time taking the advantage, as the teams saw seven tie scores in the set. The 49ers finally took their first lead at 11-10, and that lead quickly grew to 17-11 after two Brittney Herzog kills. Despite the momentum, Cal State Northridge cut the lead to two twice at 17-15, and 19-17. Three straight points helped The Beach get back up to a five point lead at 22-17, and the 49ers closed out the set at 25-19.
After hitting .414 in the first set to take the win, the 49ers suffered a letdown in the second set, struggling to regain their early rhythm. The teams worked through 11 ties in the early going, but two Matador blocks helped CSUN take a 17-14 lead. The 49ers never climbed back into things, falling 25-22 while hitting only .135, hitting into 5.5 Matador blocks.
Another close set would follow, as the teams fought to another 15-14 score with nine ties along the way with four lead changes. A long rally recovery would work out in the Matadors favor for a three-point lead at 21-18, the largest lead of the set to that point and the momentum would be too much for Long Beach State to overcome. The Beach fought off two set points after Nicole Vargas kill to cut lead to one, but the Matadors would close out the set 25-23.
Head coach Brian Gimmillaro switched things up in set four, bringing in Ya Chen Wang for Cak Highmark, and the team responded with their fastest start of the match. 49ers went to Wang for three kills and two from Herzog out to a 15-8 lead. The 49ers continued to set Herzog for the remainder of the set, and would finish things off 25-18 to force set five.
Cal State Northridge stormed out to a 3-0 lead after a Kelley Hanson ace in set five. Keeping that momentum, the Matadors moved ahead by a 7-2 margin, and would side out the rest of the way to finish off the match with a 15-10 set five final.
The 49ers close out conference play tomorrow, facing Cal State Fullerton in Titan Gymnasium at 7 p.m. Long Beach State then hosts their final home match of the year, taking on a ranked opponent in No. 15 Colorado State. The 49ers will honor their three seniors, Iris Murray, Nicole Vargas and Quincy Verdin prior to the game, which is scheduled for 7pm Nov. 29 in the ‘Myd.