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Women's Volleyball:
UC Irvine Upsets No. 24 Long Beach State
Oct. 16, 2008 IRVINE, Calif. --- A strong team effort by UC Irvine led to a 20-25, 25-12, 25-23, 25-21 upset over No. 24 Long Beach State Thursday at Crawford Court. The win lifted the Anteaters to 4-2 in Big West action and 9-10 overall while the 49ers suffered just their fourth loss (14-4) and fell to 4-2 in conference play. The win was just UCI's seventh all-time against Long Beach State with the Anteaters snapping a six-match losing streak against the Beach. Outside hitter Lauren Kellerman led all players with a season-high 21 kills and topped the team with 13 digs. Kellerman committed just three errors in 48 attempts to hit .375 on the match. Kari Pestolesi added 16 kills and 12 digs while firing a career-high five service aces. Alexandra Filkins also registered a career-high, putting up five block assists to lead the Anteaters to a 10-3 block advantage over Long Beach State. Middle blocker Shannan Homan totaled five kills and four total blocks including a solo stuff and also recorded a career-high with three service aces. Riley Cropper put up four block assists while Devon Sutherland notched 11 digs for the defense. Setter Taryn Robertson handed out 43 assists and scooped up six digs while putting away six kills on 12 attempts.
Long Beach State jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the first set but the Anteaters rallied to close the gap to two at 9-7 on a kill from Kellerman. The 49ers went on a 5-1 run to take a 14-8 advantage and extended the lead to their largest at eight points on a service ace by Naomi Washington. UCI came as close as four points, the last coming at 21-17 on a kill from Kellerman but LBSU put the set away on a kill from Quincy Verdin.
The two teams traded points early in the second set until at 5-5, UC Irvine rattled off seven consecutive points to open a 12-5 lead. At 14-8, UC Irvine out-scored Long Beach State 5-1 to lead 19-9 with a 49er attack error by Verdin capping the run. The Anteaters ended the set with four straight points and Pestolesi closed the frame with a service ace. Long Beach State took early control in the third set, taking a 6-3 lead on a kill from Caitlin Ledoux but a roll shot from Kellerman followed by two Pestolesi service aces tied the set at 6-6. UCI took its first lead of the set at 10-9 as Cropper and Filkins denied Ledoux at the net. A series of two-point runs by the Anteaters yielded a 19-15 edge. Long Beach State battled, cutting the lead down tot one at 21-20 on a kill from Nicole Moore and then again at 24-23 with Ledoux putting away the ball. However, UC Irvine held off the Beach as Robertson found Kellerman for the cross-court shot. The Anteaters jumped out in the final set, taking a 10-3 lead on a back-row kill from Kellerman. Back-to-back service aces by Pestolesi put the Anteaters up at 13-5. The match looked to be well in UCI's control as the Anteaters led 16-7 but the 49ers responded with six straight points to cut the lead to 16-13 and force a UCI timeout. Long Beach State whittled the lead to one at 19-18 on an attack error by Pestolesi. At 20-19, UCI came away with four straight points to hold a 24-19 lead and won the match on a cross-court kill from Kellerman. |
