Tuesday night provided a loose atmosphere as the Long Beach State women’s volleyball team swept UC Riverside, 3-0, inside the Walter Pyramid.
After No. 24 LBSU (14-4, 4-1) took the first point in set one, the side judge stopped the game to check the pressure on the game volleyballs. One fan joked saying, “Tom Brady is not in the building.”
49ers head coach Brian Gimmillaro even joked after the match about the players he has starting for his team and the players who are injured.
“If you had told me I wouldn’t have Ashley [Murray], who was hitting over .400 when she got hurt, and Sherridan [Atkinson], our best hitter and blocker, and Anete [Brinke], our best all around player, before the season started, I probably would have become a reporter [instead of a coach],” Gimmillaro said.
Senior setter Jenelle Hudson led the offense for the 49ers, totaling 31 assists in the match and leading her hitters to an overall .197 hitting percentage. With many of the team’s top hitters injured, Hudson has had to adjust her play on the court to give her team the best chance at winning.
“It’s been hard to get in system, get in the rhythm and keep it going,” Hudson said. “New people coming in I think we just have to adjust with injuries.”
Gimmillaro equated Hudson with a basketball player leading the team on offense and deciding what the best options were at all times.
“Jenelle is like this great point guard trying to figure out who’s open, or who can make the basket if you give them the ball,” Gimmillaro said. “What more can you ask?”
Junior outside hitter Nele Barber was her usual self and set the tone in the second set. After LBSU and Riverside went back and forth for a while, Barber ended the set with a sharp cross court shot to put the 49ers ahead two sets to none.
It was all LBSU in the third and final set of the night. The 49ers controlled early, pulling away with a 7-3 lead after an ace from Wilson. Barber hit her stride at the end of the match and put it away for her team with a huge kill down the line.
The Highlanders (6-11, 1-3) paced the 49ers the entire night, ending with a .145 hitting percentage and matching LBSU in blocks with six on the night. Freshman defensive specialist Chelsea Doyle led UCR in kills, going four-for-four with no errors.
Freshman middle blocker Peyton Grahovac dominated the match, leading her team with a .350 hitting percentage and totaling eight kills. Grahovac said that she believes in her team even if others think they are down and out because of all the injuries.
“Everyone keeps talking about how players are injured and we need to step it up and I think we did well to bring it together,” Grahovac said. “We needed to energy to be focused on that and playing hard no matter how many people are out.”
The 49ers will travel to Hawai’i next to take on the No. 8 Rainbow Warriors at the Stan Sheriff Center on Sunday.