Naomi Washington led the 49ers with 21 kills on .395 hitting as the 49ers defeated Pacific in four sets 25-14, 21-25, 25-15, 25-22 Friday night. With UC Davis losing to Fullerton, the Aggies are now tied with UCSB at 9-3; the Niners are at 8-3, and will host the Aggies in the Pyramid Saturday night at 7pm. Sophomore Caitlin Ledoux added 13 kills for the 49ers as The Beach hit .308 overall in the match.
Washington reached twenty kills for the fourth time this year, utilizing a dominant fourth set where she notched six kills on six attacks. Ashley Lee recorded a double-double with 45 assists and 12 digs along with five kills, and Lauren Minkel led the 49ers defensively with 21 digs.
Long Beach State pushed out to a 9-6 lead in the first set after a Caitlin Ledoux and Brittney Herzog block. A Pacific hitting error at 12-7 led to a Tiger timeout, and they would cut the lead to four at 14-10. Long Beach State came right back to take an 18-11 lead, and out of a second timeout, The Beach continued to push, taking set one 25-14 behind four kills each from Ledoux, Herzog, and Michelle Osunbor.
The 49ers took an early 4-1 lead after an Osunbor kill, but Pacific rallied to tie the set at 8-8 before taking the lead at 10-9. The 49ers regained the lead at 12-11 after another block, but Pacific again rallied to take a 15-13 lead. A block from Ashley Lee and Brittney Herzog gave the 49ers one more lead at 18-17, but Pacific took the lead at 21-20, and closed out the set 25-21 after a Rebekah Torres kill at 22-20 following a close pancake dig on the Pacific side of the floor.
Long Beach State took a 7-2 lead to start the third set following a Naomi Washington kill that led to a Pacific timeout. 49ers stayed out with a five point lead to through 12-7 all the way to 17-12. A solo block by Ledoux gave the 49ers their largest lead of the set at 20-13. From there, the 49ers closed out the third with a 25-15 set victory.
In the fourth set, neither team gained an advantage through the first twelve points as both sides traded leads of a single point until Pacific made a push to take a three-point lead at 15-12 after a Mallori Gibson kill. Long Beach State tied up the set again at 17-17 after a Rebekah Torres error, and took the lead at 22-21 after a Ledoux kill. A triple block from Lee, Ledoux, Herzog and Ledoux put the 49ers on top by two for the first time at 24-22, and a final Ledoux kill finished the match with a 25-22 win.
Long Beach State returns to the Walter Pyramid tomorrow night for a key conference matchup against first-place UC Davis at 7 p.m.
From LBSU reports