Fighting for a chance to compete for the conference crown, Long Beach State women’s volleyball saw its season end on its home-court at the hands of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the Big West Tournament semifinals at the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid on Friday, Nov. 28.
“This is a program that is legendary and has fallen from grace in the last six to ten years,” LBSU head coach Natalie Reagan said. “And for us to have so many firsts this season, to have a 20-win regular season, there’s so much to build on there.”
The No. 3 seed of the tournament, The Beach (22-9) were evenly matched with the No. 2 Mustangs (23-7) all season.
The two squads tied with dueling 14-14 Big West records in the regular season, and split their two head-to-head matchups.
However, despite LBSU having a major home-court advantage, going undefeated at the Pyramid against Big West opponents until Friday night, Cal Poly was able to advance to the finals by way of a scorching hitting performance with 65 kills.
“Obviously, it’s a much different environment here than back at home, but I think we took that floor with a lot of confidence, knowing that we had earned that seed,” Cal Poly head coach Caroline Walters said.
To begin the first set, redshirt senior setter and All-Big West First Team selection Emme Bullis orchestrated Cal Poly’s offense masterfully, finding LBSU’s defense out of position constantly to set up her sophomore middle blocker Chloe Leluge for three early kills en route to a 13-9 Mustang lead.
“Having an experienced setter [in Bullis] that trusts and listens to me and our game plan allows me to do a ton of research on our opponent, and she trusts the info I give her,” Walters said. “She’s really good about making great decisions.”
However, following a timeout from Reagan, The Beach came out with a 9-5 surge to tie it at 18, forcing the Mustangs to regroup and call a timeout of their own.
LBSU’s All-Big West First Team selection and star redshirt opposite Logan King made her presence felt in the closing moments of the set, nailing two crucial kills late.
Despite that, the Mustangs’ strong middle blocking proved insurmountable for The Beach, as a tandem block from Leluge and redshirt senior outside hitter Annabelle Thalken sealed the set 25-22 in Cal Poly’s favor.
Cal Poly redshirt senior outside hitter Annabelle Thalken spikes the ball through Beach freshman outside hitter Sidney Hamaker’s block during the Big West Tournament semifinals at the Pyramid on Friday, Nov. 28. Thalken finished with 15 kills in the victory. Ethan Cohen | Long Beach Current
The Mustangs overcame a poor performance at the service line with five errors by racking up five total team blocks in the set, while Bullis led the offense with 12 of her total 51 assists to take a 1-0 lead.
“Being able to have our game plan going in, and having [Walters] be able to look at what their defense is doing in certain situations just allows me to make good decisions,” Bullis said.
Eager to bounce back in front of the LBSU faithful, The Beach burst out to a 7-2 advantage to open the second set.
Cal Poly struggled to hit over the wall that is LBSU senior middle blocker Nieko Thomas, who assisted in two blocks and delivered two kills to help The Beach take a commanding 14-7 lead, forcing a second timeout in the set from Walters.
In a reverse of the first set, Cal Poly came out firing out of the break with a 10-3 run to tie at 17.
But in the closing stretch, LBSU senior middle blocker Rhiann Sheffie and All Big-West Second Team selection and senior outside hitter Elise Agi dominated, scoring six combined kills, including a resounding set point strike from Sheffie to claim the set 25-23.
Despite being tied at 1-1, The Beach faced a major gap in hitting through the first two sets, being outpaced 34 to 24 in kills, but Sheffie and Agi sought to solve that issue on their own.
Long Beach State senior outside hitter Elise Agi spikes the ball through a Cal Poly block during the Big West Championship semifinals at the Pyramid on Friday, Nov. 28. Agi recorded 17 kills during the four set match. Ethan Cohen | Long Beach Current
The pair carried its hot finish in the second set to the third, combining for six more kills to help The Beach take a slight 13-11 lead.
King joined the party with six kills of her own in the set, matching Sheffie’s total to lead The Beach through three sets with 11 kills.
But despite the LBSU offense looking the best it had all night, an equalizing six kills from Thalken for Cal Poly in the set led to a late tie at 20 all.
As the pivotal tie-breaking set came down to the very end, Leluge broke a 23-23 tie with her 13th kill on the night before a fake set from Bullis turned into the dagger kill to take the set 25-23.
“When you’re tied 1-1, that third set determines a lot, not only statistically but mentally and emotionally,” Reagan said. “Losing a couple of key points in that set was huge for us.”
Playing for their season in the fourth set, The Beach failed to provide much resistance to the Mustang offensive onslaught.
Back-to-back aces from Cal Poly sophomore outside hitter and All-Big West First Team selection Kendall Beshear had LBSU reeling into a timeout down 13-8, but the brief break did nothing to quell the Mustangs momentum.
“I thought [Beshear] did an incredible job serving tonight,” Reagan said. “There were moments where I was waiting for her to miss on the end line, and she did a great job of keeping it in and on us.”
Through four kills from Leluge and three kills and two aces from Beshear, Cal Poly rolled over LBSU in the fourth and final set.
After leading the team with 17 kills in her final game as a part of The Beach, an errant serve from Agi gave the Mustangs the set 25-17, as Cal Poly ended LBSU’s season.
Leluge led the Mustangs in the win with 17 kills, while Agi matched her total in a losing effort, as King and Sheffie rounded out The Beach’s scoring efforts with 13 and 11 kills, respectively.
Friday’s loss puts an end to a 2025 campaign that saw The Beach improve from last season’s first round exit finish with a roster featuring 10 new players, and saw King’s ascendance to a star, earning first-team conference honors in her freshman season.
“This should have been a rebuilding year,” Reagan said. “We lost nine seniors, four starters in the transfer portal, and instead these girls are setting records, they’re winning 20-plus games … I’m just so floored and impressed with this group.”
LBSU setter Madi Maxwell earned second-team conference honors in her breakout sophomore season, with Agi sharing that accolade with her in her final year with the program.
Reflecting on a senior season in which the star hitter persevered through two knee surgeries and a broken foot to get back on the court, a tearful Agi reflected on her experience with The Beach this season.
A tearful Elise Agi is comforted by teammates after losing in the Big West Championship semifinals against Cal Poly at the Pyramid on Friday, Nov. 28. The LBSU senior outside hitter racked up 17 kills in her last game with The Beach. Ethan Cohen | Long Beach Current
“I’ve had a couple of really rough years with injury, and I just wanted to be out there for them,” Agi said. “This group is so special; I will talk about this for the rest of my life.”
Following the conclusion of the semifinals, it all comes down to Saturday, as Cal Poly goes on to take on No. 1 seed UC Davis with the conference title on the line at the Pyramid.
“During every loss, every win, [Walters] has always said that we want to be our best at the Big West Tournament,” Leluge said. “This whole season has been working up to that and it’s so cool to see that come to fruition.”
A senior at CSULB, Timothy Hessen serves as the Sports Editor of the Long Beach Current. First joining the Current as a copy assistant editor as a junior, Timothy has written about sports in several different publications, including the Long Beach Current, the Coast Report and the Laguna Beach Independent. After graduation, Timothy hopes to pursue a career in journalism or public relations, with the long-term goal of either covering or working for an NFL or NBA team.