In the Big West Conference, the top-seed Long Beach State women’s volleyball team will face off against second place Hawai’i on Friday at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu.
The 49ers (19-4, 9-0 Big West) won their first meeting against the Rainbow Wahine (16-5, 8-2 Big West) on Oct. 11 for the first time since 2001; Hawaii is going into the weekend with a four-game win streak.
“I think it’ll be very competitive,” head coach Brian Gimmillaro. “I just hope that we continue to grow and play very hard. It’s a difficult place to play.”
The ‘Bows’ only losses in conference were a sweep against Cal State Northridge and a five-set loss against LBSU; both matches were on the road. But Hawai’i has a 12-3 home record and hasn’t lost a match on its own turf against Big West teams.
It’ll be the first time playing at the Stan Sheriff Center for setter Jenelle Hudson, who has only heard two things about it.
“Big crowd, great atmosphere,” Hudson said. “I have a lot of family there, so it’ll be nice to be over there. It’ll be a good experience, [and] I’m excited to play.”
Senior outside hitter Bre Mackie led the charge for the 49ers in their first meeting with a career-night against Hawai’i – 20 kills, nine total blocks and eight digs.
“It’s very difficult to rely on one player,” Gimmillaro said. “The good news is we have different people at different nights. Hopefully everyone will play well enough, and someone will play that much better for us to get a special night out of it.”
Both teams had impressive defensive efforts and combined for 27 total blocks; LBSU had 16.5 of them. Additionally, nine players recorded double-digit digs.
“Part of defense is emotion and fight,” Gimmillaro said. “Hawai’i will serve better there than they [did] here. They’ll be more emotional there than here. It’s a very important match for them.”
LBSU is coming off a balanced performance against CSUN last weekend with setter Jenelle Hudson orchestrating the offense.
Hudson set four teammates with double-digit kills and at least .300 hitting.
“My hitters are getting up every single time, that’s all that matters,” Hudson said. “Once one person gets up, it opens up another person. You just have to be able to see the block every single time, so once you see the opening, you just have to give them the ball and trust that they’ll put the ball away.”
LBSU will head to Hawaii with a chance of sweeping the series against the Rainbow Wahine for the first time since 1994.
“If you go back to when the program for both teams were very strong, the home game for Long Beach or Hawai’i was crucial,” Gimmillaro said. “There’s still some tradition and both teams play a pretty good level of volleyball.”
Hudson said the 49ers’ concentration has not strayed since the beginning of the season.
“We just have to go out and execute the game plan that coach gives us, and be ready to play,” she said. “They’re a good team, [we just need to] focus on us and not so much on them.
The Beach will play the ‘Bows on Friday at the Stan Sheriff Center. First serve is set for 9 p.m. PT.