Nothing lasts forever.
The Long Beach State women’s volleyball team learned this the hard way Saturday night when its 59-game winning streak against rival Cal State Fullerton came to a screeching halt at the Titan Gym.
The Beach (10-9, 5-3 Big West Conference) was overpowered during the third and fourth sets and eventually fell to the Titans (10-10, 4-3 Big West) 28-26, 16-25, 25-11 and 25-16.
A win in the back-and-forth opening set gave Fullerton the early advantage, but LBSU came out sharp in second and evened the match.
With a 14-10 lead in the third frame, the Titans surged to victory behind a nine-point run for which The Beach had no answer.
The momentum clearly carried into the decisive set, as the Titans used separate runs of six and seven straight points to build a commanding 22-5 lead. The Beach responded with nine in a row, but the run came too late.
Sophomore middle blocker Chisom Okpala anchored the 49er attack with 14 kills, two digs and six total blocks on .444 hitting.
Okpala and freshman middle blocker Tiara Wallace patrolled the net for The Beach in the absence of sophomore Alma Serna, who has been indefinitely suspended by the university for “personal reasons.” Head coach Brian Gimmillaro is not able comment to on the situation at this time.
Senior outside hitter Kayla Neto paced the Titans with a match-high 17 kills and 22 digs on .244 hitting en route to her eighth-consecutive double-double.
CSUF out-hit The Beach .226 to .157 on the night.
One bright spot for the ‘Niners came during the second set when Janisa Johnson reached an individual milestone. The senior became the eleventh player in LBSU history to reach 1,000 career digs. She is just the fifth outside hitter to accomplish the feat.
Johnson finished the match with 14 digs to go along with nine kills on .114 hitting.
The 49ers, already down three starters due to injuries and suspension, had to change their game plan once again after junior setter Tara Roenicke sustained an ankle injury early in the first set. She returned after the timeout, but her movement was visibly limited the rest of the night.
“[Roenicke] couldn’t move after the third play,” Gimmillaro said. “I tried to cut down the distance she had to run. I put her in a spot where she wouldn’t have to run as much.”
The ‘Niners are now 54-1 against the Titans under Gimmillaro. They will have a chance to start a new streak when they host CSUF on Nov. 8.
The Beach returns to action Saturday when it hits the road again to take on UC Irvine.