LONG BEACH, Calif. – The Highlanders put an end to a litany of losing streaks Friday night with a fabulous, five-set road victory over Long Beach State at Walter Pyramid, where UC Riverside rallied through a fourth set that featured 16 ties to take the final two sets in thrilling fashion, 20-25, 25-22, 13-25, 25-13, 15-9.
 
"This team was determined to show up differently for each other this week and it showed," said head coach Michelle Patton-Coleman. "I am so proud of how much we have grown together, the risks they are taking to change and how each of these young ladies are responding to all different kinds of adversity in their lives. Tonight's win was a result of the daily work they are investing in to become a better team."
 
Marina Gonzalez had 15 digs; Dejah Dade added 13 digs to her 30 assists; Amarachi Osuji contributed a 17-kill, 11-dig double-double; Isabella Scarlett hit .583 with 8 kills and 3 digs; and Anya Green hit .304 with 10 kills and 14 points to go with 4 digs as UC Riverside (5-14, 1-8 Big West) won its first Big West Conference match of the season while LBSU (9-10, 3-5 Big West) lost its third time in five outings.
 
The win for UC Riverside ended an overall conference slide of 13 matches that started after Nov. 5, 2019, a five-set win over UC Irvine at home. Friday's five-set victory is also UC Riverside's first win at Long Beach in 23 tries.
 
The Highlanders ended a 17-match overall losing streak Friday to LBSU, their last win over The Beach coming at home, 3-2, on Oct. 1, 2011. Friday was also the end of a nine-match overall slide for UCR since its win over Texas Southern in Tucson Sept. 17 at the Wildcat Classic.
 
The performance ended a losing streak against true road (non-neutral) teams at 21, with UCR's last win as the visitor on the home's team's court on Oct. 16, 2018, at Fullerton (3-0). Fullerton is the next stop for UCR, with the match against the Titans scheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday at Titan Gym, livestreamed on ESPN+.