Sports, Women's Sports, Women's Volleyball

LBSU to host UC Irvine for Black & Blue rivalry game

Long Beach State’s challenges with injury didn’t stop them from taking three consecutive wins to carry the momentum into this week’s game against UC Irvine.
The 49ers will take on the Anteaters, who took their only two conference victories against Cal State Fullerton and UC Riverside.

The Anteaters (11-10, Big West 2-5) are led offensively by Aly Squires with 257 kills and Marisa Bubica with 253 kills and Shelley Anderson with 711 assists. Arden Davis leads her team with 245 digs with Aly Squires behind her with 199.

“Everybody’s pretty similar in conference,” Head coach Brian Gimmillaro said. “We all run the same effective plays, but every [UC Irvine] player who hits the ball is confident and plays really good defense.”

A week ago, the 49ers (11-9, Big West 4-3) struggled with three injured players and continue to face the same situation.

Delainey Aigner-Swesey who had issues with her Illiotibial band, is now fully recovered, Gimmillaro said.

“Bre [Mackie] is still a little banged up, and Haleigh [Hampton] isn’t able to practice as much,” Gimmallaro said. “But we are working hard in practice and getting better.”

As soon as Aigner-Swesey got back at full force, the 49ers were hit with another injury. Setter Erin Juley has been experiencing sore and swollen knees from a knee injury that kept her out for most of last season.

Although Hampton practices for only 10-15 minutes each day, she is expected to play this weekend alongside Mackie and Juley.

Facing an unfortunate situation, Gimmillaro said he remains confident and looks to continue improving even with the sustained problems with injury.

“I thought we’d be fairly dominant at the beginning of season,” Gimmillaro said. “But we are [at the same level] as everyone else because of injury. But we are getting better, and we take great pride in our ability to teach.”

The match will be the second installment of the year for the Black and Blue rivalry series, the annual head-to-head competition between LBSU and UCI. The LBSU women’s soccer team won the first match of the year, a 2-1 decision over the Anteaters in Irvine.

The 49ers will host UCI. this Saturday at the Walter Pyramid. The match is set for 7 p.m.

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