 
Beach Knocks Off No. 8 Florida On Senior Night
Beach
Knocks Off No. 8 Florida On Senior Night LONG BEACH -- Closing out the two-day Baden Thanksgiving Classic on senior night, Long Beach State (25-6) got some magic from their senior leaders on the way to defeating No. 8 Florida (27-2) 30-26, 22-30, 36-38, 30-20, 20-18. Alexis Crimes and Michaela Hasalikova both finished with 18 kills and Talaya Whitfield made a career-high 34 digs as the 49ers finished out the regular season with their biggest win to date. Not just the seniors, but the entire team came together to play well for a victory in a hard fought, well played match on both sides. Both teams finished hitting over .200, with Long Beach State taking the final edge .269 to .238, though Florida had the edge in total kills 89-82. Long Beach State held off that total with strong defense, ending the game with five players in double-digit digs along with Whitfield, whose career-high of 34 just eclipsed her 33 digs made against Cal Poly. For the 49ers offensively, Ashley Lee tied with Crimes and Hasalikova for the team lead in kills with 18, while Quincy Verdin added 16 for the 49er attack. Amber McCray led the Gators with a match-high 24, and Florida setter Angie McGinnis made 75 assists, though Nicole Vargas' 65 were a season-high for the junior. No game better personified the style of the match than game three. Long Beach State came out with a focused effort in the first game and took a 30-26 win, but Florida responded by hitting .395 in the second game to take a 30-22 victory. With a wash from the first two games, neither team ever recorded a lead larger than three points, with the game ending with 23 tie scores and 12 lead changes. That largest lead came at 27-24 when an Ace from Angie McGinnis started a three point run for the Gators from 24-24, but Long Beach State got a sideout with an service error from McGinnis, and worked all the way back to take a lead at 28-27 as Marcie Hampton sent an attack wide following a Florida timeout. Hampton recovered for a kill to tie the game once again, but a Hasalikova kill led to the first of nine game points. Florida held off Long Beach State twice, and then the 49ers responded by gaining the advantage after winning a point down 31-30. Tied 33-33, the tide turned back for the Gators after the first of two critical ball handling errors called on Nicole Vargas. Long Beach State held on to stop three more game points, but finally a Florida block gave the Gators the game 38-36. Despite the victory in game three, Long Beach State seized the momentum in the match in game four following their defensive stands late in the third game after losing chances outside of Florida chances, along with the Gators' loss of outside hitter Marcie Hampton to injury. The 49ers opened up a 7-2 lead after a block by Vargas and Naomi Washington, and would be ahead by as many as 10 at 21-11. Keeping that cushion, the 49ers closed out the fourth game 30-20 to set up game five. With both teams struggling to score points on the serve in the final
game, a few early points looked to be crucial as Florida moved ahead to
a 13-10 lead. After a sideout, the 49ers got their second point on service
with Quincy Verdin beating a block. On the opposite side the 49ers tied
the match with a block of their own, but were down to match point following
a Kisya Killingsworth kill. Long Beach State held off two match points
though, and with another block moved ahead 17-16. With the score at 19-18
following a Crimes kill, the 49ers finally prevailed after McGinnis was
whistled for a lift.
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