The Long Beach State women’s volleyball team is set to host No. 6 Hawaii at the Walter Pyramid after defeating Cal State Fullerton 3-0 on Wednesday in Titan Gym without any complications.
LBSU’s (25-5, 10-2 Big West) matchup with the Rainbow Warriors has been looming over the 49ers since they dropped a thrilling 3-2 game in Honolulu on Oct. 11. Yet, before the big game on Friday, 49er head coach Brian Gimmillaro wanted his players to give all their attention to the Titans (0-22, 0-10).
“This is a very, very important match [against Fullerton] tonight,” Gimmillaro said before the game. “It’s an opportunity to get one match closer to the NCAA playoffs. It’s an opportunity to execute under stress one more time and the players need to mentally see it the same.
“You need to respect your game, respect your team and respect your opponent no matter what. So, this game is much more valuable today than Hawaii on Friday.”
The 49ers paid more than enough attention to Fullerton by picking up a quick 1-2 season sweep against the Titans.
LBSU dominated in the first set, winning by 12 on a kill by freshman middle blocker Peyton Grahovac. Grahovac totaled six kills with no hitting errors.
The Titans grabbed the early lead in the second set, before the 49ers bounced back to take the set 25-18. By the end of the second set, LBSU hit at a .352 percent compared to the Fullerton’s .197 hitting percentage.
Redshirt freshman middle blocker Sherridan Atkinson made her way back onto the court, after missing the first 29 games of the season through injury, for the 49ers and recorded two kills for .500 hitting percentage.
LBSU finished out it’s night with a .340 hitting percentage with junior outside hitter Nele Barber leading the 49ers with 12 total kills for a .385 average.
With Fullerton out of the way, LBSU’s sights are dead set on the Rainbow Warriors. Barber admitted that Hawaii has been lingering in the back of her team’s minds.
“In practice we kind of looked forward to Hawaii already,” Barber said. “A little bit, not too much.”
Barber said LBSU’s performance in Hawaii (21-0, 10-0) gave her team confidence for the rematch and highlighted Hawaii’s near impenetrable block as the biggest obstacle.
Hawaii is the best blocking team in the conference averaging 3.43 blocks per set. Middle blockers Olivia Magill, Emily Maglio and opposite Nikki Taylor rank first, second and third, respectively, in the Big West with 1.61, 1.34 and 1.23 blocks per set.
However, Barber also said she hoped playing on a familiar court will give LBSU the extra push that was missing in the first meting with Hawaii.
“I feel like being at home is always an advantage,” Barber said. “ Hopefully we have the majority of the crowd behind us. Someone mentioned that there would be a lot of Hawaii fans coming, so we’ll see.”
LBSU hosts Hawaii in the Walter Pyramid on Friday at 7 p.m.
Kayce Contatore also contributed to this article.