Sports, Women's Sports, Women's Volleyball

LBSU women’s volleyball drops its seventh in a row

LBSU women’s volleyball could not find its groove this weekend, continuing to struggle on the road and extending its losing streak to seven.

Throughout the weekend, LBSU (1-8) started games off strong, yet did not have enough fight to finish. The 49ers showed spurts of energy, however it was never enough for the team to get back into a set, a recurring issue through the early season that has cost the team all but one of its matches.

On Thursday, LBSU was swept in the first match 25-21, 25-16, 25-15 against Loyola Marymount, marking the first time the 49ers have ever lost a match playing at LMU.

In the first set of the match, the 49ers showed a lot of fight and were able to get as close as 23-21. However they could not use that momentum to their  advantage, allowing LMU to score twice in a row to take the first set. LBSU looked completely gassed out in the next two sets, and weren’t able to keep up with LMU’s pace.

After all three sets, junior outside hitter Megan Kruidof led the team with 10 kills and added 1 ace. Sophomore libero Hailey Harward had a strong night with 15 digs and an ace.

After LMU, the 49ers traveled to San Diego to face Pacific and San Diego State in the Aztec Challenge.

While Long Beach State improved its play in the next match, the same problems took them out of the game against Pacific. LBSU came out in the first set hitting .348, but were overtaken by Pacific’s extremely high hitting percentage of .424. In the next two sets, LBSU would go down early, giving the 49ers a tough climb back into the game. While LBSU was able to gain momentum at times, it was not enough for the team to come back adding another loss on the road.

LBSU was swept 25-20, 25-20, 25-16 by Pacific.

Sophomore middle blocker YiZhi Xue had an efficient match with nine kills and a hitting percentage of .615. Senior setter Alexis Patterson added 18 assists, 4 kills, and 3 digs.

LBSU looked to finish the weekend with a win against San Diego State.

The 49ers came out with energy in the first set taking it 25-14. Momentum began to shift to SDSU, leading to a 25-21 loss to LBSU in the second set. LBSU maintained its focus going into the third set with a 25-20 victory going up 2-1 against the Aztecs. The 49ers were in great position but could not hang on until the end. SDSU took the last two sets 25-20, 15-3 extending LBSU’s losing streak.

The 49ers lost the match in five sets and headed home without a win.

Kruidof lead the team with 18 kills, while also adding 8 digs and 4 blocks. Patterson had a season-high 46 assists and 9 digs, while freshman outside hitter Monika Simkova had a career-high of 12 kills and 2 aces.

On Tuesday, the 49ers head to Malibu to play against Pepperdine. LBSU returns to the Walter Pyramid on Friday to face No. 11 UCLA, and San Francisco and Montana State on Saturday.

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