Long Beach State University
5-3, 2-3MPSF
USC
6-0, 5-0MPSF
49er Men's Volleyball Falls at No. 2 USC
1/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - No. 11 Long Beach State fell to undefeated and second-ranked USC, 25-17, 25-18, 25-19, Wednesday evening at the Galen Center.
The Beach (5-3, 2-3 MPSF) struggled on the attack as it was held to a -.043 hitting percentage. True freshman Louis Richard had a team-best five kills and two aces, while sophomore Bryce Yould and junior Dan Glamack had four kills each. Sophomore Curtis Stallings finished with 20 assists and a team-high five digs.
USC (6-0, 5-0 MPSF) never trailed in the first set, building a 12-6 lead. LBSU was able to cut that deficit in half with a 6-3 spurt, capped by a Glamack kill, but after calling a timeout, the Trojans proceeded to go on a 10-5 run for the 25-17 victory.
It went back-and-forth early in set two with six tie scores before USC pulled ahead, 9-6. The home team would not relinquish the lead as it ran away with the 25-18 win.
The Trojans kept the momentum early in the third frame as they scored the first four points. Long Beach State came back to tie it up at 8-8 on a double block by Cody Martin and Taylor Gregory. USC went back on top, 10-8, but the Beach stayed within striking distance and knotted the score four more times before going up, 16-15, with an ace from Bjarne Nikolai Huus. The Trojans then sided out and went on to outscore the 49ers, 9-3, down the stretch to come away with the 25-19 victory.
USC hit .348 as a team and was led by Robert Feathers' match-high eight kills (.600) and six blocks. Andy Benesh also had six kills on six attempts, while adding six blocks. The Trojans finished the night with 11.5 total team blocks to LBSU's 8.0.
Long Beach State is back in action on Saturday, Jan. 31, when it heads to Riverside for a 7 p.m. MPSF match at Cal Baptist.
