Despite having the luxury of playing its latest tournament at home, the Long Beach State women’s volleyball team experienced the same fate it saw on the road last weekend when it won only one of three matches.
After defeating James Madison in straight sets (25-14, 25-21, 25-12) Thursday night in the opener of the Long Beach State Mizuno Invitational, LBSU was swept away (25-19, 25-20, 25-21) by San Diego on Friday and fell once more (25-23, 18-25, 25-17, 25-16) to Wisconsin on Saturday.
After dropping a close first set to the Badgers (5-1) on Saturday night, the Beach (2-4) responded in the second set and evened the match. LBSU’s momentum carried into the third set and a 15-12 49er lead forced Wisconsin to call for time.
That’s when bottom fell out for the 49ers.
Whatever was said in the Badger huddle sank in. Wisconsin returned to the court and immediately went on a 13-2 run to emphatically end the set.
Wisconsin did not slow in the deciding set, beginning the frame with a 6-1 run en route to a 25-16 victory that was never close.
LBSU head coach Brian Gimmillaro said the most important thing his young players can gain in the absence of two key starters (middle blockers Haleigh Hampton and Alma Serna) are experience and action at full match speed.
“When you’re new, you can have some [good] nights, but not all nights,” Gimmillaro said. “Some of the older players have to score more and play better.”
The Badgers were led by senior middle blocker Alexis Mitchell, who tallied 15 kills on .609 hitting and five digs.
Possibly the most telling statistic of the match relates to the injury-plagued ‘Niners at the net – Wisconsin out-blocked LBSU 16.5 to 3 on the night.
Janisa Johnson paced the Beach with a double-double. The senior outside hitter compiled a game-high 18 kills to go with 19 digs but hit at a clip of just .125. Wisconsin out-hit Long Beach .272 to .144 overall.
In the second game of the tournament, the Beach faced a rematch with its rapidly growing rival, No. 20 San Diego. The Toreros wasted little time extending their winning streak to eight matches against LBSU, winning in three straight sets that were closer than the final score might indicate.
San Diego (3-1) won the matches with its killer instinct. The first set was tied at 17, the third at 18, and during the middle frame, the Toreros held a lead as slim as 20-19 before pulling away in all three.
The Torero attack was anchored by junior middle Chloe Ferrari, who provided nine kills and two digs on .400 hitting.
The Beach committed 27 errors on the attack, while San Diego had just 14.
The lone bright spot of the invitational came Thursday, when LBSU swept James Madison (1-5). Sophomore middle blocker Chisom Okpala led the charge with 16 kills, three digs and a block on.552 hitting.
“I felt nervous at first, but after the first couple points I got into the feel of the game and was excited,” Okpala said.
The sophomore added that the most important things she can provide the team are energy and encouragement.
“When things don’t go your way, you need to stay strong and just encourage your teammates,” she said.
Johnson produced 9 kills and a game-high 13 digs in the win.
LBSU returns to action Friday when it begins the Washington invitational in Seattle against No. 12 University of Washington (6-0).
“We have to keep growing,” Gimmillaro said. “We have a big weekend coming up and even bigger one after.”
Finding success during those weekends will be much easier when Serna returns. The team is hoping that she will return within two weeks.