Sports, Women's Sports, Women's Volleyball

Long Beach State to host No. 6 Hawaii

It’s been almost a year since the Long Beach State and Hawaii women’s volleyball teams played a match for the ages in front of 2,466 at the Walter Pyramid.

The two schools will meet again on Friday with 49ers looking to avenge last year’s 24-26, 34-32, 26-24 and 25-22 loss to the Rainbow Wahine, who would go on to win the Big West Conference title.

“It was well-played; we were just so short-handed,” LBSU head coach Brian Gimmillaro said, referencing to last year’s injuries. “We did the best we could, and we had the chance at the match point, but we just couldn’t do it.”

The Beach (8-7, 1-1 Big West) comes into Friday’s match with more injuries than it expected to have at this time of year with Haleigh Hampton and Bre Mackie both labeled as questionable.

Gimmillaro said both players would practice Thursday, and a decision would be made by the end of the day on whether or not they would play.

“It’s going to be emotionally difficult and physically difficult,” he said, “because you’re not able to practice with your squad. But we’ll see who plays, and we’ll see how we do.”

Hawaii (13-1, 2-0 Big West), on the other hand, is coming into the Pyramid ranked sixth in the nation and in prime position to claim a second straight conference title. Rainbow Wahine star Emily Hartong, who is from nearby Los Alamitos, currently ranks 15th in the nation in kills per set with 4.49.

By comparison, LBSU leader Delainey Aigner-Swesey averages 3.51 kills per set.

“You’re never going to stop [Hartong],” Gimmillaro said. “You try to get a couple opportunities against her, and you have to take advantage of those opportunities.”

Fox Sports West will also televise the match. It is the only women’s volleyball match of the year that will have national TV coverage.

“I sure would like to see the school represented well by us and by the fans,” Gimmillaro said. “When you’re nationally televised, you want people to see your school the way it really is.”

With the ‘Niners already losing one Big West game over the weekend to Cal Poly, head-to-head matches could be the only way for The Beach to catch up to the Rainbow Wahine. Hawaii’s only loss was in five sets to No. 13 San Diego, and with three first-place votes next to its name in the national poll, it can’t be counted on to drop many Big West games.

“We need to win all the time,” Gimmillaro said. “The challenges are there, and how we react to challenges are important to us.”

The match will start at 8 p.m. on Friday at the Walter Pyramid.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published.

Daily 49er newsletter

Instagram