Box Score Oct. 10, 2009
Box Score
Stockton, Calif. - Led by senior Mallori Gibson's (Bakersfield, Calif.) season-high 21 kills, the Pacific women's volleyball team upset No. 20 Long Beach State on Saturday, October 10, at the Alex G. Spanos Center. The win marked the Tigers' first win over a top-20 ranked team since upsetting the No. 22 ranked 49ers last season at home. Additionally, Pacific improved to 14-3 overall and 4-2 in the conference while the 49ers fell to 11-4 overall and 4-1 in the Big West.
Set scores for the match were: 25-16, 22-25, 25-22, 25-22.
Playing off the momentum of their sweep on Friday night, the Tigers opened up their upset bid on fire against the 49ers as they dismantled Long Beach State early from the outside led by Gibson. Tied at 11-11, Pacific blew open the first set with a 7-0 run behind the serve of senior Dancyne Kama (Hilo, Hawaii). With Kama behind the service line, Gibson and sophomore Rebekah Torres (Wahiawa, Hawaii) went to work as the duo combined for five kills in the run, three of which came from Gibson. With a comfortable 18-11 lead, the Tigers coasted to the finish, closing out set on a Gibson kill, her eighth of the set. For the set, Gibson posted a .727 hitting percentage as the senior took 11 swings without an error. As a team, Pacific posted an impressive .517 hitting percentage, posting just one error in the set while tallying 16 kills on 29 attempts. Additionally, the Tigers held the 49ers to just 11 kills with five errors on 34 attacks (.175 hitting percentage).
Despite the big win in the opening set, the Tigers were not able to put the 49ers down without a fight as Long Beach State showed why it was ranked No. 20 in the country in the second set, rallying back to capture the set and even the match at one set a piece. The critical juncture in the set came at 15-15 when the 49ers flipped the tables on the Tigers from set one, rolling off a 6-0 run to give them a big enough cushion in the set in which to absorb at late rally by the Tigers. Pacific would close the set to within one point at 23-22, but the 49ers would secure the final two points, finishing off the Tigers with their first, and only, service ace of the match.
The trio of Caitlin Ledoux, Naomi Washington and Brittney Herzog led the 49ers to the second set win as they posted 13 of Long Beach State's 15 kills with Ledoux tallying five kills and no errors on 11 attacks. The 49ers needed every last one of their kills to keep pace with junior Svenja Engelhardt (Sinsheim, Germany) as she came alive in the second set for the Tigers with eight kills on 11 attacks with just one error. The error was the first of the weekend for the junior after she posted an error free match on Friday night giving her a five set errorless streak.
Out of the media break between sets two and three, the Tigers regrouped and again came out firing, with Torres regaining her form to lead Pacific. Again, the Tigers mounted a midset rally in which they took seven straight points, pushing a 12-11 lead to 19-11, this time with Gibson behind the service line. During the run Torres picked up two of her set-high six kills while the duo of seniors Natalia Tomaszewska (Marklowice, Poland) and Olivia Riley (Agua Dulce, Calif.) posted a pair of blocks against Ledoux that stymied any type of 49er answer. Up comfortably, Pacific held off a late charge by the 49ers to put the No. 20 ranked team in a two sets to one hole heading into the fourth set.
Needing just one set to pick up their first win over a ranked opponent this season, the Tigers found themselves in their closest set of the evening against the 49ers as the two teams locked horns in a fight that would not be decided until five points. Throughout the fourth set, neither team was able to take a lead larger than two points for much of the set resulting in 18 tie scores and 14 lead changes. With the Tigers fighting for the match victory and the 49ers fighting to stay alive, the set moved into its final tie of the night at 21-21 before the Tigers were able to feed off the energy of the Spanos Center crowd and take four of the final five points of the set. Seeing her outside hitter teammates lead the Tigers to victory in the first and third sets, Engelhardt took control of the set and the match late in the fourth set tallying all four points via kills in the final five points of the match. She finished the set with seven kills and just one error on 15 attempts while also picking up the Tigers' one and only service ace of the night.
Overall, the Tigers put together one of their finest hitting performances of the season against one of the nation's top teams as they finished the night with a .366 hitting percentage after marking down a season-high 70 kills with 17 errors on 145 attacks. Individually, Gibson led all attackers with her 21 kills while posting a .400 hitting percentage after making just three errors on 45 attempts. She also posted her second straight double-double as she put up a season-best 15 digs, one shy of her career best. For Engelhardt, the junior tallied 20 kills on 37 attacks with just three errors for a .459 hitting percentage. Two other Tigers reached the double-digit kill mark for the match with Torres tallying 12 and Tomaszewska knocking down 10. The duo also combined for 15 digs while Tomaszewska added six blocks, tying her career high. Kama added 18 digs for the Tigers while Riley posted a season-high 63 assists, a total which moved her career total to 1,498 assists, moving her into 10th place on the Tigers' all-time assists list.
For the 49ers, Washington led the way with 20 kills and just six errors on 42 attempts for a .333 hitting percentage. Ledoux finished the night with 16 kills and a .268 hitting percentage while Herzog tallied 11 kills and just two error on 26 attacks (.346 hitting percentage) to round out the 49ers' offense. As a team, Long Beach State hit .273, posting 57 kills and 18 errors on 143 attacks.
The Tigers will be back in action on Friday, October 16, when they travel to UC Santa Barbara to take on the Gauchos. The match is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
