Sports, Women's Sports, Women's Volleyball

Long Beach State women’s volleyball avoids upset; moved to first place in Big West

What started off as an early upset turned around quickly as the Long Beach State women’s volleyball team beat UC Riverside in four sets Wednesday night in Riverside.

In the first set, LBSU and UCR traded points early on and were tied 6-6.

After the Highlanders tied the match, the 49ers went on a 4-point streak to take a 10-6 lead thanks to junior middle blocker Ashley Murray, who had three assists.

The two teams exchanged points before the Highlanders took a 23-20 lead and eventually won the set 25-21.

LBSU made a dramatic comeback in the second set to beat UCR 25-11. The 49ers jumped out to an 11-1 lead and never looked back.

The 49ers’ front line was big part of the team’s comeback. Midway through the third set freshman middle blocker YiZhi Xue, junior middle blocker Ashley Murray and senior outside hitter Nele Barber had a combined 26 kills.

In the match, four 49ers had double-digit kills. Barber led the team with 15, while Murray and redshirt sophomore outside hitter Anete Brinke has 13 kills each.

Redshirt sophomore setter Missy Owens connected well with her hitters on her way to 35 assists after three sets as LBSU took a 2-1 lead after a 25-21 win in the third set.

In the fourth and deciding set, LBSU and UCR were tied 8-8 before the 49ers started to pull away. The 49ers went on 17-8 run to beat the Highlanders, 25-16.

With the win LBSU moves to 5-0 in Big West play and will host Hawai’i Saturday at Walter Pyramid.

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