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The Long Beach State women’s volleyball team used clutch execution to stave off a valiant comeback effort from Northwestern, winning 25-17, 25-21, 16-25, 18-25, 15-10 at the Walter Pyramid on Saturday night.
“I am really, really proud of our squad today,” said LBSU head coach Natalie Reagan. “I think this win for us is bigger than just a win on our record. It’s going to help us define this whole season.”
The Beach were led by Natalie Glenn who had a team-high 14 kills and 11 digs, while Kameron Bacon added 11 kills and Jaylen Jordan had 9 kills and 3 blocks.
The Beach came out with energy and aggression during the first set, hitting .406 and outworking Northwestern during the long back-and-forth points. The Beach jumped out to a 16-7 lead and didn’t look back, winning the set 25-18.
The 2nd set was closer, but the Beach still looked like the dominant team. After flexing their strong offense during the 1st set, they relied on aggressive defense to hold Northwestern to a negative percentage of -.027. The set was tied 16-16 but they quickly pulled away after kills from Jordan, an incredible dig from Glenn, and a fierce block from Ella Lomigora.
However, the game turned upside down in the 3rd and 4th sets as Northwestern gained momentum. They gave the Beach a taste of their own medicine by keeping them on their toes, making the extra effort to keep balls in play, and amping up their offensive intensity. They outworked the Beach in the 3rd set and limited the Beach to just -.097 in the 4th set, led by Northwestern’s Buse Hazan who had a game-high 20 kills. Northwestern also switched to a 6-2 offense which caused Beach some problems defensively.
“Their 6-2 was really, really effective for them,” said Reagan. “We definitely got the wind knocked out of us a little bit in those sets, lost some gas, couldn’t maintain control and had some leaks.”
In a highly entertaining 5th set that had postseason energy to it, Northwestern jumped out to a 6-3 lead following consecutive hard-fought points. However, the two X-factors that helped the Beach regain momentum were two players off the bench, one being freshman Madi Collins who came up clutch at the service line and catapulted the Beach’s 8-0 run.
“She is a very selfless player,” said Reagan. “She knows her role on our team and she has always put the team first. It’s such a joy to have her in the gym.”
Along with Collins, freshman Jaida Harris was also crucial down the stretch after getting subbed in for the first time near the end of the 4th set. She had 3 clutch kills in the final frame that helped the Beach take an 11-6 lead.
“I do want to say this girl has prepared herself for this moment,” said Reagan of Harris. “She is an incredible teammate, and she has been preparing for this moment for a while and to take those swings in those moments. It takes a very, very brave young woman taking those swings.”
Glenn punctuated the Beach victory with back-to-back kills as the home team won the final set, 15-10.
“I think our coaching staff and our team have prepared us for high-pressure situations like this one,” said Harris. “So it really is just about trusting your training, and I think our coaches and staff did a very good job of reminding us of that in this game.”
The win also marked a two-game sweep of Northwestern as they were victorious against them Thursday night. The Beach now look to a game against Omaha on Wednesday, who like Northwestern are also searching for their first win of the season.
“They are a strong team and they’re very hungry,” said Reagan. “We have to control our controllables, and we believe we can beat anyone when we’re playing our best volleyball.”
