18-8,11-3Big West
Long Beach State
12-15,9-6Big West
Mustangs Fall 3-1 on the Road to Long Beach State Saturday
11/16/2019 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Despite a match-high 20 kills from junior outside hitter Maia Dvoracek to notch her 16th straight match with double-figure kills, the Cal Poly volleyball team fell to Long Beach State 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-17, 25-19) on the road Saturday night.
Despite the loss, the Mustangs (18-8, 11-3 BW) still hold second place in the Big West while the Beach (12-15, 9-6 BW) are now in sole possession of fourth place.
In addition to her 20 kills, Dvoracek also added five digs and two aces. Cal Poly's middle blockers of junior Madilyn Mercer and sophomore Meredith Phillips each added seven kills. Mercer also had five blocks and two aces. Senior outside hitter Jessica McRoskey added six kills and sophomore setter Avalon DeNecochea had 45 assists.
Cal Poly scored the first two points of the opening set before Long Beach State won the next four. Up 7-6, the Beach went on a 6-2 run to take a 13-8 lead. The Mustangs cut the Beach lead to as little as four at 16-12 but that was as close as they would get as Long Beach State took the first set 25-18 despite seven kills from Dvoracek in the set.
Long Beach State got out to a 6-3 lead to begin the second set before Cal Poly scored four straight points, two coming by back-to-back aces by Mercer to take a 7-6 advantage. Tied at 8, the Mustangs used a 12-4 run to take a 20-12 lead, their largest of the set. The Beach then trimmed the lead to one at 22-21 after a 9-2 run. After trading points twice to make it 24-23, Dvoracek's ninth kill of the set won it for Cal Poly, 25-23.
It was back-and-forth to begin the third set, with neither team able to pull ahead by more than two points. With the Mustangs leading 11-8, the Beach went on a 6-0 run to take a 14-11 lead. Cal Poly then bounced back with a 4-1 run of its own to tie it at 15. Long Beach State followed with a 6-1 run to go up 21-16. They then scored four of the next five points to win the set 25-17.
Trailing 2-3 in the fourth set, the Mustangs went on a 6-2 run to go up 8-5. Leading 8-6, consecutive kills by McRoskey put Cal Poly up four before LBSU used a 6-1 run to take a 12-11 lead. Tied at 13, the Beach scored four straight points to go up 17-13. The Mustangs later trimmed the lead to two at 21-19 but that is as close as they would get as Long Beach State went on to win the set 25-19.
Cal Poly will return home next weekend for its final two matches of the regular season. They will first take on UC Irvine on Friday at 7 p.m. followed by Cal State Fullerton on Saturday at 5 p.m.
