The rematch of last season’s Big West title is here as the No. 24 Long Beach State women’s volleyball team takes on No. 10 Hawai’i at the Stan Sherriff Center in Hawai’i on Sunday at 8 p.m.
The top two teams in the conference prepare for the first meeting of the season since the 49ers stunned the Rainbow Warriors in Hawai’i last season with a 3-2 win to secure the conference championship.
Hawai’i has risen every week in the NCAA polls with dominating performances in both conference and non-conference play. LBSU head coach Brian Gimmillaro still believes that the Rainbow Warriors should have a better position in the polls after they trounced then No. 2 Florida in four sets early in the season.
“My feeling is they’re one of the top three or four teams in the country,” Gimmillaro said. “They’re good in every position. Everybody is returning, except one middle [blocker], and the middle they have is better than the middle they had. It gives us an opportunity to relax a little bit and play hard.”
Hawai’i’s sophomore middle blocker Olivia Magill took over the top blocking spot for the Rainbow Warriors. She is leading in the conference with an average of 1.51 blocks per set and holds a .402 hitting percentage.
The Rainbow Warriors are trying to go undefeated in conference as the 49ers did last season with junior opposite hitter Nikki Taylor averaging 4.58 kills per set and 2.25 digs per set.
Taylor has registered double digit kill numbers in 14 of 15 matches this season, totaling 14 kills with just one error as Hawai’i topped UC Riverside on Oct. 3.
Hawai’i is ranked first in the NCAA in blocks, averaging 3.27 blocks per set and is ninth in kills with a .292 hitting percentage.
“We know [the Rainbow Warriors] are a strong team offensively and defensively, so we expect them to be really good and the best,” freshman middle blocker Peyton Grahovac said. “We want to play our best and beat them.”
Hawai’i consistently supplies a packed house for the volleyball matches, and the Rainbow Warrior crowd can certainly come into play as the seventh man on the court. LBSU senior libero Lindsey Lawmaster said that the atmosphere in the Stan Sheriff Center would be as intense as always.
“It’s going to be a challenge, a fight,” Lawmaster said. “I expect a dog fight. I think it will be a good opportunity for us, especially since we’re slow on the road, to actually get up to the challenge and play a good team.”
Lawmaster said that Hawai’i is the one match that she is always excited for because of the rivalry between the top two teams in the conference.
Hawai’i hosts the 49ers on Sunday at 8 p.m. PST at the Stan Sheriff Center
Long Beach State
Kills/set: 13.3
Digs/set: 14.5
Blocks/set: 2.0
Hawai’i
Kills/set: 14.4
Digs/set: 14.1
Blocks/set: 3.3