March 17, 2008

long Beach, Calif. - DENVER - A first game setback was not enough to hold off a surging 49ers team in a 27-30, 30-25, 32-30, 30-22 win over Washington State in the first match of two on Saturday at the Pioneer Classic. Alexis Crimes finished with 19 kills and 3 aces, and Talaya Whitfield had 19 digs in her first game back with the team since the Stanford match.

Long Beach State held the Cougars to .196 hitting in the four-game match, while hitting over .200 in each of the four games. In the first game that was not enough, as Washington State hit .267 and made four aces to take the first-game victory.

The 49ers recovered from there to take their first come-from behind victory on the season however. In game two, the Beach held Washington State to .139 hitting, and made four of their nine blocks, including solo blocks from Crimes and Michaela Hasalikova to grab a 30-25 win.

The closest game came next, and was the turning point for the 49ers as the team came from behind and won a very tight game three. The Cougars moved out to as much as a five-point advantage at times through the game, including leads at 13-8 and 14-9 behind a number of kills from Adetokunbo Faleti. The 49ers cut the lead to 15-13, but Washington State recovered and again held a five-point edge at 23-18 before the team made a wild push to get the game.

After getting a 27-23 lead from a Nicole Vargas ball-handling error, the 49ers got a kill from Crimes and an error from the Cougars' Brittany Tillman to start a comeback. The 49ers cut the lead to one with kills from Ashley Lee and Quincy Verdin, but Jackie Albright put down a ball to give the Cougars their first game point. Long Beach State responded with kills from Hasalikova and Crimes to tie the match. Washington State earned another match point at 30-29, but were again denied with a Hasalikova kill, and the 49ers took advantage, winning two points on Verdin kills to get the game.

With the momentum from an exciting game three, Long Beach State easily took advantage of a downhearted Cougar team, holding Washington State to .026 hitting in the final game on the way to a 30-22 win and the match victory.

The Beach closes out their stay in Denver at 4 p.m. today, facing their fourth ranked opponent of the season in No. 17 Ohio. Like the 49ers, the Bobcats enter the match 2-0 in the Pioneer Classic, and the match will determine the tournament champion.