Junior Alyssa Opeka had 13 kills and hit .500 in a losing effort as Long
Beach State (20-5, 12-5) defeated Cal State Fullerton (14-14, 6-12) 3-0
(30-22, 32-30, 20-24) in a Big West Conference women’s volleyball
match in front of a season-high 402 fans Friday night at Titan Gym.
It was a hard fought battle between the cross-town rivals won by the 49ers
and led by the play of Makini Thompson, Robin Miramontes and Alexis Crimes.
Crimes led all players with16 kills and hit .344. Thompson hit .400 on
the night while putting away 14 kills and Robin Miramontes slammed 13
kills and added nine digs to the cause.
Titan senior Lauren Goins concluded her final evening in a Titan uniform
in grand fashion becoming only the second player in school history to
record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs with her third scoop at the end of game
one. Along with Opeka, Goins was the only other Titan with 10-or-more
kills with 11.
Fullerton senior Tiffany Dolven ended her Titan career with 4 blocks (one
solo) to lead the team, which out- blocked Long Beach State five to four.
She also added eight kills in her Titan finale.
Long Beach State out-hit Cal State Fullerton .382 to .273 on the night,
but not before the Titans made a run in game two that saw them out hit
The Beach .405 to .327. The score went back and forth until a hitting
error by the Titans gave Long Beach the game point.
As she watched some of her teammates close out their careers, Fullerton
freshman Vanessa Vella capped her first season off by becoming the Titan
single-season record holder for most digs with 479. She finishes 2004
by digging out 4.48 spikes per game.
The game marked the end of the season for the Titans who said goodbye
to four graduating seniors Goins, Dolven, Jaclyn Owen, and Carley Dial
a ceremony commemorating their Titan careers.
Long Beach State will finish their regular season schedule on November
12 versus UC Riverside.
