UC Irvine upsets Long Beach State

Steve Virgen

After nearly letting a huge victory slip away, and after missing on

four match points, the UC Irvine women’s volleyball team dug down

deep to chalk up a historic victory in what has become a special, and

perhaps, pivotal season.

The Anteaters overcame a 12-9 deficit in the fifth game and

captured victory on the fifth match point to defeat host Long Beach

State, 30-28, 27-30, 31-29, 16-30, 23-21, in a match for first place

in the Big West Conference Saturday night.

It was the first time UCI defeated the 49ers since Nov. 9, 1983.

Long Beach had reeled off 37 straight victories over the Anteaters,

but then came UCI Coach Charlie Brande and his crew.

“It wasn’t pretty, but it was,” Brande said. “We’re very happy to

be on the same playing level with [Long Beach]. For our team, this is

a tremendous victory. It was a big step for us. It’s a huge win for

this group of girls.”

Long Beach (10-4, 5-2 in the Big West) nearly won, neglecting to

capitalize on three match points.

UCI gained its fifth match point when the 49ers were called for a

net violation to put the Anteaters up, 22-21. To earn the victory,

Terbrie Taylor and Sami Cash rose to collect a block and sent UCI

supporters into celebration mode, yet gave Brande a sigh of relief.

“I thought both teams could have played better,” Brande said.

The Anteaters (15-4, 6-1) had never played in a match for first

place in the Big West. But that was insignificant to them.

“We were focused before that fifth game,” said Kelly Wing, who was

close to three months old when UCI last defeated the 49ers.

Wing recorded a match-high 35 kills, six of which came in the

final game.

“It’s awesome,” Wing said of UCI’s victory. “It’s awesome because

we worked so hard. We fought back and forth and came out on top. It

was great to get a win over Long Beach, but to win a game like that,

it doesn’t matter who it was against, it was awesome.”

In addition to Wing’s performance, the Anteaters also received

heroic-type efforts from Taylor (11 kills) and Cash (seven kills).

Brenda Waterman came up big, as well, with 17 digs. Her final dig led

to a Long Beach error and gave UCI a 20-19 lead in the fifth game.

UCI setter Ashlie Hain amassed 54 assists, as did the 49ers’

setter, Jillian Mazzarella.