LBSU-SLO Game 4 13-8 LB -

[beachman]

Games 1 and 2 were about as ugly volleyball from a LBS perspective that I have ever seen....even worse than last night....games 3 and 4, BG changed the line-up, which Cal Poly was very slow to adjust to....the last half of game 4 and into game 5 the two teams were playing very even volleyball.....LBS still has NO SETTING to speak of!

[beachvball]

Cal Poly Escapes with 3-2 Win
Mustangs Fight off two LBSU Match Points to Secure Victory

September 30, 2006

Box Score

LONG BEACH, CA -- The 20th-ranked Cal Poly Mustangs escaped the Walter Pyramid with a 3-2 win over host Long Beach State on Saturday night in Big West Conference action. Game scores were 30-20, 30-19, 20-30, 35-37, 17-15 in favor of the Mustangs.

Long Beach State fell to 10-4, 1-1 in Big West play, while Cal Poly improved to 11-4, 3-0 in league action.

Alicia Waller and Kylie Atherstone led Cal Poly with a combined 48 kills. The Mustangs out-blocked LBSU 23-9.

Mischa Hasalikova had 18 kills to lead Long Beach State in the losing effort. Alexis Crimes had 16 kills and Dyanne Lawlor chipped in with 14 kills to lead LBSU. Nicole Vargas had 69 assists and 13 digs. Talaya Whitfield registered career-highs in kills (nine) and digs (22).

Cal Poly used a .378 attack percentage and six total team blocks to come away with a 30-20 game one victory. The Mustangs jumped out to an early 4-1 lead after a Waller kill, forcing LBSU to call a timeout. CP pushed its lead to 17-10 after a Kylie Atherstone kill, and held its biggest lead at 28-16 after a 49er attack error. Long Beach State could not overcome a poor offensive output, hitting just .054 for the stanza. Waller had six kills for the Mustangs.

The Mustangs continued to pour it on offensively, registering a .469 attack percentage en route to a 30-19 game two victory. Waller tallied another six kills in the set to raise her match total to 12. The 49ers kept it close in the game, before Cal Poly widened the scoring gap to 16-10 after an Atherstone kill. Long Beach State pulled to within 23-16 after a Mariko Crum kill, before Cal Poly closed out The Beach with a 7-3 run.

Long Beach State prevented a sweep and stayed alive with a 30-20 game three victory. The 49ers were much better offensively with a .378 attack percentage. Talaya Whitfield registered four kills and an ace to spark the rally. LB jumped out to a 9-4 lead after a Whitfield kill, and quickly increased the lead to 11 (20-9) after a Dyanne Lawlor kill. The Mustangs never posed a serious threat to the 49er lead, as a Lawlor kill ended the game.

The 49ers fought to stay alive in the match and forced a fifth and deciding game with a 37-35 game four victory. Long Beach State fought off three match points, and eventually tied the game at 35-35 after a Cal Poly attack error. A second consecutive attack error, followed by a Hasalikova kill proved true for LBSU to cap off the game four victory.

Cal Poly fought off two match points (14-12, 14-13) to tie the fifth set at 14-14 after a 49er attack error, and won the game, 17-15 after a block by Jaclyn Houston.

Long Beach State returns to action next Tuesday vs. CS Northridge at 7 pm from the Walter Pyramid.

[vbfan4life]

wow...sounded like a great match to have attended...too bad I missed it

[roy]

What is very interesting is that Cal Poly has this weird way of hanging on in a match. They can be down against match points and still pull out the win.

[vbfan4life]

roy said:

What is very interesting is that Cal Poly has this weird way of hanging on in a match. They can be down against match points and still pull out the win.

they kinda remind me of the wahine team was it a season or 2 ago that would not be able to finish the teams off quickly, but hang on and win in the last minute

[aaronic]

vbfan4life said:

roy said:

What is very interesting is that Cal Poly has this weird way of hanging on in a match. They can be down against match points and still pull out the win.

they kinda remind me of the wahine team was it a season or 2 ago that would not be able to finish the teams off quickly, but hang on and win in the last minute

The 2004 season.

[Vball818]

Want to read more about LBSU's last two matches?

Conference play begins with split
Daniel Kim
Posted: 10/2/06
The Long Beach State women's volleyball team began Big West play this weekend at The Walter Pyramid, and after two five game matches The Beach started conference play with a 1-1 record.

The Beach beat UC Santa Barbara 19-30, 30-26, 30-27, 23-30 and 15-12 Friday, but No. 20 Cal Poly handed LBSU its first conference loss of the season Saturday wining 30-20, 30-19, 20-30, 35-37 and 17-15.

The conference opener was a meeting between the two teams that shared the Big West title in 2005.

UCSB started strong and scored six consecutive points late in game one to take a commanding 29-18 lead.

Game two was tight the whole way through with neither team leading by more than four points.

A kill by Alexis Crimes off of a Nicole Vargas set gave LBSU a 17-14 lead. UCSB rallied to tie the score at 17 and forced an LBSU timeout. On the next point, a furious back-and-forth volley capitalized by a Hasalikova kill ignited the crowd and gave The Beach an 18-17 lead.

Naomi Washington and Quincy Verdin had kills down the stretch to win game two for The Beach.

Game three was another nail-biter featuring four lead changes and neither team taking more than a three-point advantage.

With the game tied at 26, a Miramontes kill gave LBSU the lead for good. Verdin followed with a kill of her own, giving The Beach a two-point lead. Game three ended on a wide shot by UCSB.

With their backs against the wall in game four, UCSB jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead. The Gauchos continued to play well throughout the game and led by as much as 10 points.

LBSU head coach Brian Gimmillaro shuffled his lineup and checked Heather Hetzer into the game. Hetzer responded immediately with a kill cutting the Gaucho lead to 24-16. But UCSB was too much for The Beach and won the game by seven points.

A "Let's Go Long Beach" chant from the boisterous crowd started the final game. The Gauchos took a 10-8 lead in the game, but consecutive kills by Crimes and Hetzer tied the score at 10. Crimes and Hetzer then teamed up for a block to give LBSU the first lead of the game.

Unwilling to quit, the Gauchos tied the score at 11. Crimes gave the lead back to The Beach with a kill. Three points later, Verdin ended the match with a kill to give LBSU its first conference win of the season.

According to Gimmillaro, inserting Lawlor and Hetzer into the match during game four was key in the win.

"Dyanne [Lawlor] saved us. Dyanne gave Nicole [Vargas] the break she needed and played well and Heather [Hetzer] probably won the match for us. You never know who wins the match and if it wasn't for Heather we wouldn't have won," Gimmillaro said.

Crimes and Hasalikova led the team with 21 kills apiece. Vargas posted a double-double with 61 sets and 13 digs.

In Saturday's match, Cal Poly lived up to its national ranking, dominating LBSU in games one and two. The Mustangs built up double-digit leads and cruised to a 2-0 game lead.

The Mustangs looked primed for a sweep over LBSU, which Cal Poly did to LBSU at The Pyramid last year. But The Beach stormed back to take games three and four to force the second five-game match in two days.

The Beach took an early 3-0 lead in the deciding game. Later on, Talaya Whitfield sent a screaming shot that the Cal Poly defenders could not handle, giving The Beach an 8-5 lead.

Cal Poly then rallied and tied the score at 10. A Crimes kill gave The Beach a one-point advantage but Cal Poly answered with a kill of its own and tie the score again.

The points continued to go back and forth, and LBSU did had a chance to win the match when they had match point at 14-13.

Off a Vargas set, Whitfield leapt into the air to spike home the game-winner but her shot was blocked by Cal Poly defenders.

Fittingly, the game and match ended on a Cal Poly block. The Mustangs dominated the net, posting 40 blocks to The Beach's 14.

Hasalikova led the team in kills for the second consecutive game with 18. Crimes and Lawlor had 16 and 14 kills. Vargas posted another double-double with 69 sets and 13 digs. Whitfield led the team with a career-high 22 digs.
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