Long Beach State University Athletics
LBSU men's volleyball sweeps British Columbia in exhibition match
1/3/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
Jan. 3, 2012
LONG BEACH - The Long Beach State men's volleyball team kicked off the 2012 season with a 3-0 victory over the University of British Columbia in an exhibition match Tuesday evening at the Walter Pyramid. Game scores were 25-21, 25-16, 25-18.
Senior Srdjan Nadazdin led LBSU with 12 kills and 11 digs, while classmate Jim Baughman finished with 10 kills and eight digs.
LBSU took an early 6-1 lead after a Nadazdin kill, but UBC proceeded to go on a 7-2 run to tie it up at 8-8. The two teams traded points before the Thunderbirds scored five unanswered to pull ahead, 16-13. Ryan Meehan stopped the bleeding with a kill and the 49ers went on to even the score at 16-16. LBSU then went up 21-19 and led the rest of the way as a pair of Meehan kills ended the set at 25-21.
Long Beach State used a couple of big runs to run away with a 25-16 victory in the second set. The 49ers trailed by two in the early going before using a 7-1 spurt, capped by a Nadazdin kill, to go up, 11-7. UBC came within two, but sparked by three consecutive service aces from Brad Hemmerling, LBSU went on an 8-2 run to close out the set.
The 49ers carried their momentum over to set three where they took an early 11-4 advantage on a cross court kill from Nadazdin. Long Beach State went up by as many as 10 en route to the 25-18 win.
Robert Bennett paced British Columbia with 10 kills, while hitting .500 (10-2-16).
Long Beach State will play its second and final exhibition match tomorrow when it welcomes Brandon University from Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, to the Walter Pyramid for a 7 p.m. showdown.
