 
Herzog leads balanced 49er attack in 3-0 win over Cal State Fullerton
Oct. 24, 2009
Long Beach, Calif. - The trio of Brittney Herzog, Naomi Washington and Caitlin Ledoux finished with ten, nine and nine kills respectively to lead Long Beach State to a 25-17, 28-26, 25-17 win over Cal State Fullerton Friday night. Long Beach State held the Titans to .128 hitting overall, led by outstanding defense from libero Lauren Minkel who had 23 digs over the three set match, along with Ledoux who added 12 digs and setter Ashley Lee who had nine. Herzog paced the 49ers in the first game with five kills while hitting a blistering .556, and Minkel displayed some tremendous defense , contributing 6 digs. The 49ers came out looking sharp in the early going taking an 11-7 lead in set one. The 49ers stretched their lead to 16-9 after a kill and service ace by setter Ashley Lee. Long Beach State took a 24-16 lead after a service error by Fullerton and closed out game one 25-17 after another service error by the Titans. Fullerton began quickly in settwo taking an early 5-1 advantage, only to have Long Beach State rally behind three consecutive kills from senior outside hitter Naomi Washington and cut the lead to one at 6-5. Sophomore Caitlin Ledoux's third kill of the set gave the 49ers their first lead at 10-9. CS Fullerton fought back behind some strong blocking and rattled off five consecutive points which gave the Titans an 18-16 lead and led to a Long Beach State timeout. However, a Caitlin Ledoux kill gave Long Beach the lead at 26-25 and the 49ers eventually took the set 28-26.
Looking to close out the match, Long Beach State got off to a hot start and took an early 3-0 lead. Three consecutive attack errors by Cal State Fullerton allowed the 49ers to stretch their lead to 9-5 and forced Titan coach Carolyn Zimmerman to burn a timeout to stop the run. Long Beach State continued their dominance in game three taking a ten point lead at 18-8 after an ace by Brittany Herzog. CSF battled back with six straight points drawing to within four at 18-14, leading to a Long Beach State timeout. However, the Titan comeback attempt fell short as Long Beach State prevailed in game three 25-17 to win the match in 3 games 25-17, 27-25, 25-17. With the win the 49ers improve to 13-5 overall, 6-2 in the Big West. Long Beach State will be back in action next Friday when they travel to take on Cal Poly, and will then face UC Santa Barbara in a key midseason matchup. Both matches start at 7 p.m. |
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