One could say that after the first match of the season, the Long Beach State women’s volleyball team is digging the fact that the 2008 season is now underway.
The 24th-ranked 49ers opened up their season with a 3-1 victory Friday against the University of San Francisco Dons (25-23, 25-19, 23-25, 25-20) in a match chock-full of digs and rallies at the Walter Pyramid.
The first set had a couple of big rallies, including one sparked by Long Beach’s Nicole Vargas, who finished with a double-double of 45 assists and 13 digs, including two key digs to help the LBSU gain the edge to win the set.
Senior Iris Murray was also a key player, recording 10 of her 25 digs in the first set alone.
Murray was injured last season with a torn ACL, but after surgery, is now back and showed no signs of rust.
“The knee is good now,” she said. “I’m expected to be all over the place. I feel really confident with [freshmen] Lauren [Minkel] and Caitlin [Ledoux] out there with me, having my back.”
The 49ers (1-0) quickly jumped out to a 10-5 lead, taking five of six points before the first timeout of the match by the Dons
USF (0-1) came out of the timeout and made up some ground, tying it up at 16-16 before a timeout was called by 49ers coach Brian Gimmillaro.
Shortly after the timeout a rally ensued, with the Beach’s Caitlin Ledoux ending it with a soft touch over the net. A soft touch by Ledoux on a short rally and costly errors by the Dons resulted in a 21-18 LBSU lead. The 49ers finished them with a kill by junior Naomi Washington.
The quickly-paced second set opened with the Niner’s scoring six of the first seven points, including two soft touches by Washington.
San Francisco stayed within striking distance thanks to sophomore Sarah Mandala and her forceful kills.
LBSU was able to take control, however, as their .441 team attack percentage solidified the set victory.
The strong second set effort was unable to translate into a three-set sweep, as USF fought back and showed some resilience.
The Dons opened up the third set and seemed to take the momentum from Long Beach, even though the score was not a strong indication. The 49ers’ miscues included a couple of kills that wound up wide or in the net.
Coach Gimmillaro didn’t think rust played a part in the mistakes, though.
“I don’t think rust was a factor, we just haven’t had enough repetition,” he said. “Quality repetition is the key, and it will come over time.
“We wanted to play hard, but we weren’t necessarily focused. When you do that you are playing immature. You just have to do it and not think about it.”
USF made a series of errors, including three hits that were out of bounds, at the beginning of the fourth and final set of the match. LBSU had the set under control from the very beginning, jumping out to a 15-8 lead before a media timeout.
San Francisco was in reach a couple of times, but a mental mistake of an illegal substitution by USF put the game on ice.
LBSU ended the hopes of a potential Dons comeback with a kill by junior newcomer Ya Chen Wang to seal the victory.
The newcomer theme was common as LBSU debuted five players on the court today, two of which were freshmen starters — Ledoux and Cat Highmark.
“Our defense at times was very, very good,” Gimmillaro said. “Caitlin played very well. She had a lot of touches, and she played very good.”
Veteran leader Vargas feels good about the victory and how the season has begun.
“Everybody played well, including the freshmen,” she said. “We had some problems in the third set, but we bounced back. You can’t dwell on the mistakes.”
The 49ers finish the second match of a doubleheader tonight against Indiana at 7 p.m. in the Walter Pyramid.