No. 6 Long Beach State Set To Start Big West Championship
The Beach heads into the tournament seeded in second place playing on Friday afternoon.
By: Luiza Moraes - Athletic Communication Assistant
LONG BEACH, Calif. – No. 6 Long Beach State starts their hunt for the Big West title this Friday. The Beach finished the regular season with the No. 2 seed and will face No. 7 seed CSUN on the opening round at the Anteater Aquatics Complex at 2:30 p.m.
Ranked in the Top 10 throughout the season, Long Beach State (15-10, 6-1) had the highest seeding since 2016 when the Beach won the Big West regular season. After an important victory over No. 7 UC Irvine, LBSU looks to carry the momentum into the conference tournament.
Martina Cardona and Elisa Portillo had outstanding regular seasons leading the Beach offense with 62 and 60 goals, respectively. Portillo leads the team with 40 assists to combine 100 points in the year and a 60% shooting efficiency. The junior also leads the team with 36 steals. Freshmen duo of Rita Gurri Capel and Daniela Quinzada Gonzalez have made an immediate impact on the team. Gurri Capel ranks third on the team with 35 goals and Quinzada Gonzalez leads the team with 38 earned ejections. On defense, senior Chelsea Oliver ranks second in the Big West with 196 saves while also adding 26 steals and 12 assists.
The first-round matchup will be the second meeting between both teams this season, as the Beach dominated No. 23 CSUN at home, 16-2 for conference play. Dorottya Telek leads the Matadors and the conference with an impressive 104 goals scored while also adding 45 assists. Anna Pal has a team-high of 65 assists and adds 56 goals in the year. Erika Staine has 112 saves to lead the Matadors defense.
The winner of the contest will face either No. 3 seed UC Irvine or No. 6 seed UC Santa Barbara at the semifinals on Saturday at 2 p.m. The championship game is set for Sunday at noon with the winner clinching an automatic bid for the NCAA Championships in Bloomington, Ind. Both semifinals and championship game will be live on ESPN+.
First sprint for the matchup against the Matadors is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. with live stats provided through thefosh.net.
