Sports, Women's Sports, Women's Volleyball

The Beach to host second tournament after 4-0 run

The Long Beach State women’s volleyball team will host the three-day Long Beach State/LMU Tournament this weekend at the Walter Pyramid.

The 49ers (5-2) look to bring the dominant performance from their tournament last weekend into this one.

They have been blocking an average 2.88 per set this season, an average which ranks 20th in the nation according to the Long Beach State Athletics website.

The 49ers will open up the tournament against Loyola Marymount (6-0) on Thursday at 7 p.m. They are 18-3 against the Lions and have won their last seven meetings together, but the Lions are off to a good start after defeating all six of their foes.

“This is the best team Loyola Marymount has had maybe in forever,” head coach Brian Gimmillaro said. “I think they’re very close in leading the nation in offense.”

Senior Caitlin DeWitt leads LMU with 80 kills this season and a .419 hitting percentage. DeWitt was named tournament MVP of the Concourse Hotel at LAX Classic and Sacramento State Invitational, and also earned West Coast Conference Player of the Week honors for the first time in her career.

Although DeWitt is her team’s leading scorer, the Lions altogether have a .364 hitting percentage.

“I know them well; they’re well- coached,” Gimmillaro said. “[They’re a] very good team, [and] it’ll be a very good match.”

Northern Colorado just came off their first home victory of the season, defeating Florida A&M in a sweep. Junior Kendra Cunningham led the Bears with 11 kills and only had one blocked shot out of her 14 attempts.

The Bears’ statistics aren’t as impressive as the Lions since the entire team achieved a low .187 hitting percentage so far this season, and accumulated an average of 12.45 kills per set.

LBSU will face Northern Colorado (3-3) Friday at 7 p.m.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (3-4) is coming off from back-to-back losses in the UTPA Tournament and a 3-0 defeat against Rice University. Senior Brianna Brink leads the team with a team-high 90 kills and 12 blocks. Kate Klepetka and Halley King both lead the Islanders’ defense with 102 digs a piece.

LBSU is led by junior Alex Reid, who leads the 49ers with 69 kills. Senior Bre Mackie chipped in 60 kills and a team-high 33 blocks. Senior Tyler Jackson earned Big West Defensive Player of the Week after reaching over 1,000 career digs last weekend, and has been a force in the back row for her team.

The 49ers will begin the last day of the tournament against the Islanders at 12 p.m. and will close out the weekend with a match against Saint Mary’s (4-3) at 8 p.m.

The Beach is 6-0 against the Gael’s. Their leading scorer senior Samantha Tinsley has 87 kills and 65 digs, recording double-digit kills in six of their seven games this season.

Gimmillaro said he knows his team will face some tough competition this weekend, but he just wants to continue focusing on his own team.

“Well you have a game plan, but my emphasis is always on us,” Gimmillaro said. “I do know and do respect and understand what the other team does well and attempts to do, but the better you are, the more you spend time on yourselves.”

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