LONG BEACH, Calif. — Long Beach State Women’s Volleyball fell behind early against Cal State Bakersfield, but ultimately showed their class as the match progressed in a 3-2 win over the Runners as the Beach extended their home winning streak to seven straight matches.
 
Madi Maxwell had a special night for Long Beach State (15-6, 8-2 Big West) as the sophomore led the way in the comeback, recording the first triple-double since 2012 for the program, finishing with 12 kills, 41 assists and 17 digs in the match.
 
Cal State Bakersfield (5-17, 2-8 Big West) had a strong night at the net, finishing with 17 blocks to Long Beach State’s 8, but the Beach held the Runners to .156 hitting on the night behind a season-high 87 digs. Elise Agi (23 kills, 20 digs) and Logan King (17 kills, 17 digs) joined Maxwell in recording double-doubles on the night.
 
Cal State Bakersfield stunned Long Beach State with a fast start in the first set. Pushing from a 1-1 tie to a 6-1 lead after two errors from the Beach, the Runners would continue to hold on to that early lead through the set. The Beach would cut the CSUB lead to 13-11, but a three-point run including an ace by Evelyn Trivino Espinosa put the Runners back in command on the way to a 25-16 win in the opening set.
 
Long Beach State recovered early in the second set, as a Tatum Hoff ace after an Elise Agi kill gave the Beach an 8-5 lead. The Runners pulled to within one at 15-14, but a Maxwell dump helped keep the Beach in front, followed by a strong kill from Nieko Thomas. CSUB kept chipping away however, pulling even and then in front with back-to-back blocks and then closed out a 25-22 win.
 
The Beach got off to a fast start in the third set, opening up a 7-2 lead with a block from Pola Bujnarowska and Anabel Kotzakov. Nicole Zake pulled the Runners back into the set with three quick kills to push in front 9-8.
 
The back-and-forth continued, as a Kotzakov solo block put the Beach in front 19-17, but the Runners were able to tie the set once more at 21-21. Maxwell put away a kill to close a rally to keep the lead for the Beach, and an error from CSUB put the Beach up 23-21. Agi then closed out the set 25-22 after a fantastic cover from Izzy Mahaffey kept the play alive for the Beach.
 
Closing out the third helped Long Beach State retake control of the match on the way to a dominant fourth set. Opening up the set on a 4-0 run, Long Beach State turned to Agi early, as the senior was picking her spots with three kills and a block with Bujnarowska leading to a 9-1 lead. Taking a lead as large as 21-6 in the set, the Beach finished off the fourth hitting .324 in a 25-13 win.
 
Maxwell and Bujnarowska combined on a block to put the Beach up 2-0 early in the fifth set, and kill from Sydney Hamaker put the Beach up three, 6-3. The Beach would continue to build momentum, as Hamaker and Maxwell put down two straight kills to start a run, capped by two more kills from Nieko Thomas and Maxwell to go on top 13-6. Long Beach State then closed out the match 15-9 with an ace from Kotzakov.
 
Long Beach State will continue Big West play next week, facing Cal State Fullerton on the road on Halloween in a rivalry match on ESPN+.