Long Beach State University
15-12, 11-11MPSF
CSUN
10-18, 7-15MPSF
Beach Defeats CSUN in Five Sets on Senior Night
4/18/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
LONG BEACH - The 11th-ranked Long Beach State men's volleyball team closed out the regular season in dramatic fashion as it defeated No. 13 CSUN, 20-25, 27-25, 25-18, 18-25, 16-14, in front of a crowd of 1,102 on Senior Night Saturday at the Walter Pyramid.
LBSU improved to 15-12 overall and finished its Mountain Pacific Sports Federation slate at 11-11. The 49ers have earned the No. 7 seed in the MPSF Tournament and will head to No. 2 Hawai'i for a quarterfinal match next weekend.
Junior John La Rusch led the Beach with a match-high 22 kills. It was his seventh-straight double-figure kill match and the second time this season he has finished with at least 20 kills as he also had a career-high 23 at UC Irvine on April 3.
Junior Cody Martin registered 11 kills and 11 digs for his second double-double of the year, and added five blocks and two aces. Junior Taylor Gregory chipped in eight kills and six blocks, while classmate Andrew Whitt came off the bench to record nine kills and six digs.
It went back-and-forth in the opening set with 13 tie scores and five lead changes. Long Beach State went up 16-15 on a double block from Dan Glamack and Chris van Vuuren, but CSUN answered with a block and a kill to pull ahead, 17-16. The Matadors then broke an 18-18 deadlock with a 7-2 spurt for the 25-20 win.
Set two was a game of runs and CSUN started with a 4-1 lead. The Beach then scored five unanswered and extended its advantage to 8-5 on a Matador hitting error. The visitors responded with an 8-2 rally to pull ahead, 13-10, but the 49ers quickly tied it up at 13-all. CSUN would go back on top by three before LBSU knotted it up at 20-20 on a Gregory block. Five more ties would follow until consecutive kills from La Rusch ended it in favor of Long Beach State, 27-25.
The Beach pulled ahead midway through the third frame and then cruised to the 25-18 win. CSUN held a slight edge early in the set, but after a Whitt kill tied it up at 12-12, LBSU continued on an 11-3 run, capped by a kill from Martin, to go up, 22-15. The 49ers sided out the rest of the way with another kill by Whitt eventually giving the home team the victory.
CSUN regrouped in set four where it led wire-to-wire. The Matadors pulled ahead 20-13 before Long Beach State scored three-straight points to close the gap to four. That was the closest the Beach would get, however, as CSUN emerged with the 25-18 win.
The fifth and final set was a close one as neither team led by more than two. The 49ers went up 10-8 on a van Vuuren ace, but the Matadors came back with a 4-1 run for a slight 12-11 edge. That lead was short-lived as a CSUN hitting error followed by a kill from La Rusch put Long Beach State back on top, 13-12. The two teams then traded points until a triple block gave LBSU the 16-14 victory.
CSUN finishes its season at 10-18 overall, 7-15 MPSF. Jakub Ciesla paced the Matadors with 12 kills and 11 digs. Arvis Greene also had 12 kills, while Josiah Byers totaled 11 kills and nine blocks.
LBSU recognized its three seniors - van Vuuren, Ryan Windisch and Tyler Kulakowski - in a post-match ceremony. The Beach also honored Bill Lovelace and Teresa Farrell, two of the program's longtime supporters who passed away this year, by wearing patches on their jerseys and special warm-up shirts.
Seventh-seeded Long Beach State begins the postseason next weekend as it travels to No. 2 seed Hawai'i for an MPSF Tournament quarterfinal match on Saturday, April 25. First serve is set for 7:30 p.m. (HT)/10:30 p.m. (PT).
