No. 21 UC Irvine Wins in Five Against No. 25 Long Beach State
Oct. 16, 2009
IRVINE, Calif. --- Kari Pestolesi tied a season-high with 23 kills to lead all players as No. 21 UC Irvine defeated No. 25 Long Beach State, 27-29, 25-23, 25-17, 18-25, 15-13 in a Big West match Friday at Crawford Court. The win gave the Anteaters sole possession of first place in the conference standings at 5-1 (15-3 overall) while the 49ers fell to 11-5 overall and 4-2 in league action.
Pestolesi led the team with 19 digs and two service aces while Juliane Piggott fired 19 kills and picked up eight digs. Setter Taryn Robertson totaled a season-high 55 assists and 14 digs while Larissa Nordyke and Alexandra Hauser added seven kills apiece. Kristin Winkler had 16 digs in the winning effort.
Long Beach State was led by Naomi Washington and Caitlin Ledoux, who had 13 kills apiece. Ashley Lee totaled 38 assists and 17 digs while Michelle Osunbor led all players with eight block assists.
Neither team was able to open up more than a two-point lead in a frame that saw 16 tie scores and nine lead changes. Finally, at 20-20, the Anteaters broke away with a 4-1 run to take a 24-21 lead but the Beach stormed back to knot the set at 24 points apiece on two attack errors by UCI. The two teams traded points until at 27-27, the Anteaters hit long on back-to-back plays, losing the first set, 29-27.
UCI jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second set on a pair of service aces by Pestolesi but Long Beach State would come to within a point at 8-7 on an Anteater miscue. A block by Riley Cropper and Robertson on Ledoux gave UCI an 11-9 lead. However, the Beach tied the match with a three-point run on kills from Lee and Ledoux to tie the score at 15-15. At 20-20 Cropper tucked a ball inside the baseline and a bad set by Lee was followed by a Pestolesi kill for the 23-20 UCI lead. The Beach rallied again to cut the lead to one at 24-23 but Piggott put the ball through the 49er block to seal the win, 25-23.
The Anteaters jumped out to a 7-4 lead in the third set and opened up its widest margin of the match at 16-10 on an attack error by Washington. UCI rode a match-best .395 hitting percentage in the frame while holding the 49ers to .189. Larissa Nordyke's off-speed shot through the LBSU block extended the lead to seven at 20-13 and Robertson dished the ball to Pestolesi twice to give UCI the 25-17 win.
Neither team was particularly efficient in the fourth set with LBSU hitting .030 and UCI hitting negative-.024. LBSU built an early 10-7 lead and used a three-point run to enjoy its largest lead of the match at 15-9 following a kill from Ledoux and an attack error by Cropper. UCI clawed its way back into the set and came to within a point at 19-18 on the put-away by Pestolesi. However, following a service error by Piggott, UCI committed four unforced errors in the final five plays to fall 25-18.
The two teams traded points in the early going of the final frame but the Anteaters went on a five-point run in the to break away from a 4-4 tie and take a 9-4 lead as Long Beach State committed three unforced errors in the rally. Robertson went to Hauser on the quick set and Cropper came up with a key solo block on Libby Fontanilla to prompt Long Beach State's second timeout at 11-5. However, at 12-6, the Anteaters committed five unforced errors as the 49ers caught UCI at 12-12. Herzog's attack went long on the ensuing play to end the Beach's run and Piggott hit a line shot to give the Anteaters match point. Piggott then followed a UCI attack error with a tip shot over the Long Beach State block to give UCI the 15-13 win.
