49ers
defense is too much for UOP, CSUN
By Kandace Hsu
On-line Forty-Niner
The
Long Beach State women’s volleyball team
relied on a stifling defense to beat the
University of the Pacific Tigers, 30-23,
22-30, 30-27, 30-22, and the Cal State Northridge
Matadors, 30-20, 24-30, 30-15, 32-30, at
The Pyramid this past weekend.
“The key to winning is to just stick it
out and get the job done,” LBSU senior Brittany
Hochevar said.
CSUN (7-8, 2-5) gave a good fight Saturday
night at The Pyramid, but could not break
the solid LBSU defense.
Senior Lindsay Phillips led The Beach (15-1,
7-1) with a match-high 20 kills, while Hochevar
added another triple-double to her record
with 10 kills, 45 assists and 14 digs.
“It’s great having Lindsay back,” Hochevar
said. “She brings so much experience and
fire power to the team.”
CSUN’s Jennifer McNees led the Matadors
with 16 kills and Nadine Nickel added 44
assists and 11 digs in the losing effort.
The 49ers and Matadors split the first two
games of the match.
But, in game three, LBSU limited CSUN to
a -.030 hitting percentage with 11 team
blocks.
The Beach trailed in game four, but came
back to tie the game at six and took the
lead with seven straight points. However,
the Madators came back and tied the game
again at 18. From that point on, both teams
fought point for point until the 49ers finally
pulled ahead for good, finishing off CSUN,
32-30.
“We were determined to finish the game and
not take it to game five,” 49ers senior
Elisha Thomas said. “We’re a fighting team.”
On Friday night, Thomas tallied 17 kills,
three service aces and a season-high nine
blocks to lead The Beach to its third straight
match victory over rival Pacific at home.
The 49ers took game one behind a combined
12 kills from Erika Chidester, Kessie Doering,
and Thomas.
UOP rallied hard to tie the game at 13,
but The Beach’s continuous effort finished
the Tigers off with a 17-10 run.
Pacific came back in game two behind junior
Jennifer Joines’ six kills and Ashley Groothuis’
four kills.
In game three, The Beach reclaimed control
and staged a great rally to tie the game
at 16 after trailing 11-15.
UOP continued to hold the lead, but LBSU
came back with strong defense to take out
the Tigers by off holding them to a .186
hitting percentage.
In the final game, Phillips helped seal
the match with the final kill.
|
