The Long Beach State women's volleyball team stared into the abyss of opening the Big West Conference season with two straight losses Saturday night - and rather than fall, the 49ers took flight.
Cal Poly served for the match in the fifth set at 14-12, on the heels of a 10-minute interruption over a possible rotation violation, but the 49ers scored the next four points to pull the match out and take a 25-22, 24-26, 21-25, 25-21, 16-14 win at the Walter Pyramid.
Janisa Johnson put down a vicious kill on the sideout to make it 14-13 Cal Poly. The Mustangs hit wide on a return to tie the game, and Johnson then dropped another kill to take the lead. Poly was long on the return of Erin Juley's serve and the 49ers claimed the fifth set and their first league win of the season.
The 49ers (7-5, 1-1) dropped the season opener to UC Santa Barbara Friday in five sets, with a controversial call that went against them in the fifth set being the key. Saturday's match could have gone the same way.
Delainey Aigner-Swesey had a career match, dropping 29 kills after being switched to the left side for the first time in her career 90 minutes before the match.
"I think we just got upset," head coach Brian Gimmillaro said afterward, noting the rotation discussion and the general tone of the weekend. "Janisa's kill was a game-changer, a statement on the way we felt, and we knew what they were going to do in the next points.
"We felt we
needed to take some of the pressure off some of our young players, which is why we moved Delainey to the left side, which she hadn't played in high school, and used Bre Mackie on the right, which she has never played. But it allowed us to give the young players some help."Aigner-Swesey had five kills in the first set, six in the third and a stunning 12 in the fourth. She and Johnson each had three points in the fifth set.
Poly scored six straight points in the fifth set to take an 8-4 lead before the 49ers began chipping away, finally drawing even at 11. Poly led 13-12 when Kristina Graven's shot landed long but was ruled to have been touched by a 49er, giving Poly match point.
"I figured I would have more opportunities (with the switch), but not that many," soph Aigner-Swesey said. "I think I had a little adrenalin going for me. I just felt we were going to win, even when we trailed in the fifth set. We definitely needed to win."
Poly led the fourth set 6-4 when Aigner-Swesey went nova, putting down seven kills in a 8-1 49er run to take a 13-7 lead. Hampton had a kill and scored off two blocks during a five-point run and the 49ers led 21-11. Poly scored six straight points as the 49ers made some errors and two kills by Kristena Graven got them within two at 23-21 before Aigner-Swesey put the set away with two kills.
The 49ers won a seesaw first set, 25-22. They trailed much of the set before drawing even at 18. Juley then had a dunk kill and Aigner-Swesey followed with a soft tap over the defense and cross-court kill to make it 21-18. Alma Serna closed the set with a kill.
The 49ers raced out to an 8-3 second set lead, a great rally leading to a Johnson kill and Serna following with a monster block. But they went inexplicably hesitant after a pair of service aces by Poly's Catie Smith, and the Mustangs used that as part of a 10-1 run to take a 13-9 lead. The 49ers clawed back to tie the set eight times before losing 26-24.
A 6-1 run that included three kills by Aigner-Swesey gave the 49ers an 11-7 lead in the third set. But a favorable rotation for Poly allowed them to block three straight kill attempts and draw even at 11. The 49ers grinded out a 19-17 lead, but Hampton was blocked on a kill, two attempts went long and Hampton was blocked again and the Mustangs would close it out 25-21.
