Long Beach State softball has a busy week ahead

The Long Beach State softball team (18-11) wraps up nonconference play Wednesday with a doubleheader against Loyola Marymount. It is the first meeting between the schools since 2012. The first game is scheduled to start at noon.

LBSU is hitting .294 as a team and ranks in the Top 75 in the nation in both ERA (2.93) and fielding percentage (.965). Junior Christina Clermont and freshman Cielo Meza have been strong in the circle. Both pitchers rank in the Top 10 in the Big West in ERA and the are No. 2 and No. 4, respectively, in strikeouts, combining for 185 in 29 games.

On Friday, the 49ers will be on the road to kick off Big West action against Cal State Northridge. The Matadors (18-14) have a team slugging percentage of .442 and lead the Big West with 79 extra-base hits. Two weeks ago, CSUN junior Taylor Glover and freshman Taylor Troost were named Big West Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively.

Men’s volleyball

After being swept by No. 2 UCLA, which pushed Long Beach State down to No. 5 in the rankings and to second place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, the 49ers (20-5, 14-4) are hitting the road this week. At 7 p.m. Thursday, they’ll take on No. 6 Pepperdine (12-7, 11-7), which is third in the MPSF. Senior Matt Tarantino leads the Waves with 269 kills, 3.84 per set. Freshman David Wieczorek has 25 aces. This month, the Waves picked up quality wins over No. 3 BYU and a thrilling five-set victory over No. 4 Stanford.

LBSU visits the Cardinal (17-3) on Saturday. Stanford has won 10 of its last 11 matches and is averaging 1.58 service aces per set this season.

Beach volleyball

No. 7 Long Beach State (5-6) has won three consecutive matches and will play in a three-way dual match at Cal State Northridge on Thursday, followed by a home match against No. 6 Arizona at noon on Friday. On Thursday, the 49ers will play Concordia at 12:30 p.m. before a rematch with CSUN at 2:30 p.m. Arizona, which jumped ahead of LBSU in the AVCA rankings last week, has played only one team in the Top 10, falling to No. 5 UCLA. All of LBSU’s losses have come to the Top 5 teams in the poll.

LBSU sophomores Nele Barber and Rachel Nieto, as well as sophomore Sammee Thomas and junior Kobi Pekich, are both 5-1 since the teams swapped partners at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.

Women’s teis

After a baer week in which the 49ers knocked off their first ranked opponent of the year, defeating No. 46 Dartmouth 5-2 at the Rhodes Teis Center, the 49ers (11-4, 4-0) are taking their four-match wiing streak on the road this weekend. On Friday, LBSU will be at Cal Poly (2-10, 0-3) and then visit No. 69 UC Santa Barbara (9-6, 2-0) in a showdown at 11 a.m. on Saturday. LBSU junior Maeva Razakasoa is on a roll after defeating reigning Big West Player of the Year, Hawaii’s Cindy Nguyen, 6-0, 6-2 win last week. Nguyen is a Long Beach native and a 2013 Millikan High graduate.

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Women’s water polo

The No. 21-ranked 49ers (12-8, 1-0) will likely jump in the rankings this week after upsetting No. 5 UC Davis in the Big West opener last week. LBSU is back at Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center this week for three important matches.

On Thursday at noon, LBSU will be looking for revenge against No. 19 San Diego State (8-12), which edged the 49ers 8-7 at the UCSD Invitational in February. On Thursday night at 7, they’ll host Brown. On Sunday at noon, the 49ers will resume Big West play against No. 25 Cal State Northridge. The Matadors (8-12) will be looking for revenge after falling to LBSU 8-7 earlier this season at the Triton Invitational. Alexandra Massier and Tori Morrissey both scored twice in those two games for the 49ers.

LBSU senior goaltender Alexis Butler had nine saves in the upset of UC Davis and a season-high 14 saves in the 7-1 win over Bucknell. That one goal given up is the lowest for the 49ers since 2004. Butler has 102 saves, almost six per contest.

Track and field

At the UC Riverside Spring Track Classic last weekend, junior Riley Cooks won the heptathlon, setting a new school record, and sophomore Herman Day won the decathlon. Both scores are the best in NCAA Division I this season. Cooks compiled 5,569 points to better Ami Ice’s 25-year old record. It is Cook’s third school record. She also holds records in the 60-meter hurdles and pentathlon. Day set a meet record with a lifetime-best 7,279 points to win the decathlon. It is fourth best in program history.

- JJ Fiddler contributed to this report