Victory Over Arkansas State Lets CS Long Beach Advance

Cal State Long Beach rallied from a one-game deficit to defeat visiting Arkansas State in the opening round of the NCAA women’s volleyball championships at Long Beach on Friday night.

Arkansas State (41-6) took an 11-3 lead in the first game, then held off the 49ers, 15-13. But led by the blocking of outside hitter Alicia Mills, Long Beach (28-2) won the next two games, 15-3 and 15-8, and led by 10-6 in the fourth when Arkansas State scored five consecutive points.

But Mills tied the score with a kill, Schwerm followed with another and Long Beach, which will play host to Illinois State on Thursday in the Northwest Regional, never looked back.

“We just kept biting away at them,” senior setter Sabrina Hernandez of Long Beach said.