From Reports By Long Beach State Sports Information Department

Long Beach State had revenge on the mind Wednesday night in the ‘Myd.  A month ago, they lost to UC Irvine in four games.  They haven’t lost a match since dropping that one to the Anteaters, and they still haven’t as freshman Caitlin Ledoux’s 18 kills and 21 digs, and senior Quincy Verdin 15 kills kept LBSU’s win streak alive at eight games.

Long Beach and Irvine traded sets, 25-20, 21-25, 25-18, 21-25, until Ledoux took over in the fifth set for the win, 15-13, as the 49ers solidified their hold on first place. With the win, the 49ers improve their record in five-set matches to 6-1, and take a two-game lead in the conference standings with three Big West games left to play.  Verdin’s night gave her 1,011 for her career, becoming the 14th 49er to reach 1,000 kills.

Long Beach State’s defense led the way on the night, as the team finished with 99 digs, led by libero Iris Murray who had 24. Ledoux added 21 digs, Lauren Minkel had 18, Cat Highmark finished with 15, and Nicole Vargas with 12 rounded out five 49ers with double-digits in digs. Vargas also had 50 assists and made a seven kills, a season high for the senior setter.

Set one was representative of how close the match would end, as the teams traded one-point leads well past the halfway point. UC Irvine finally took a 15-13 lead after a McCall Miller ace, but Long Beach State recovered to tie the set at 18, and after taking a 21-20 lead, the 49ers rallied for four straight points to grab a 25-20 win. 16-13 UC Irvine.

Sets two and three were mirror images of each other while remaining totally different from the first set. While the first set was filled with 14 tie scores and seven lead changes, an Alexandra Filkins ace gave UC Irvine a 2-0 lead, and the Anteaters would storm out to an 11-6 lead. From there, the Anteaters would hold on to the lead, and would close out the set with a 25-21 win.

The Beach was in complete control through most of the set. The 49ers hit Verdin twice out of the gate, and after a Ledoux ace the score was 4-0 in favor of Long Beach State. From there, the 49ers would roll out to a 17-9 lead, and would move out to a 25-18 win in the set.

In another close set, UC Irvine would get the first two-point lead at 10-8, and that would be enough behind .273 hitting to hold out for the win.

Long Beach State gained the early advantage in the final set, taking a 7-2 lead after an error from Filkins. UC Irvine continued to chip into the lead, but the 49ers picked up every side out that they needed, hitting Verdin for a 13-11 lead, and going to Ledoux for points 14 and 15 when a UC Irvine point would have tied the match.

“I just told Nicole (Vargas) to keep setting Caitlin,” said coach Brian Gimmillaro after the win.  “Caitlin closed it out for us again.”

Long Beach State returns tomorrow night to the ‘Myd, as the 49ers will host UC Riverside @  7 p.m.

Listen to the latest episode of SportsNight for our postgame interview with Quincy Verdin–it’s the first eight minutes of the show.