Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
19-4, 13-3MPSF
CSUN
13-10, 6-10MPSF
No. 11 CSUN Upends Second-Ranked LBSU in Five Sets
3/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - No. 2 Long Beach State had four players reach double figures in kills but it wasn't enough as 11th-ranked CSUN was able to pull off the 3-2 upset Saturday evening at the Matadome. Set scores were 25-19, 18-25, 25-27, 25-19, 15-13.
Freshman Kyle Ensing led the Beach with 14 kills (.314), 13 digs and five blocks. Classmate TJ DeFalco added 12 kills and eight digs, while junior Bryce Yould finished with 11 kills (.529) and seven blocks. Senior Taylor Gregory rounded out the quartet with 10 kills and only one error on 14 swings for a .643 clip.
Freshman setter Josh Tuaniga also had 49 assists, nine digs and a season-best five kills.
LBSU (19-4, 13-3 MPSF) outblocked CSUN 13.5-to-9.5, but hit under .300 for just the sixth time this season, finishing the night at .275.
CSUN (13-10, 6-10 MPSF) broke an early deadlock with a 16-6 run to take a 20-10 lead in the first set. Long Beach State then mounted a comeback with an 8-2 spurt, capped by a Gregory ace, to close the gap to four at 22-18, but the Matadors sided out and finished strong for the 25-19 win.
In set two, the Beach pulled ahead, 6-3, on a double block by Ensing and Yould. LBSU stayed out front until CSUN knotted the score at 11-11. The 49ers then put together a 9-2 rally to go on top, 20-13. Long Beach State sided out the rest of the way with a DeFalco kill ending it at 25-18.
Senior Cody Martin started the third frame with an ace, but the Matadors would go up, 7-4, on an ace of their own. The Beach kept within striking distance and evened the score at 14-14 on a kill from Ensing. It continued to go back-and-forth with 11 more ties before a solo block by Gregory and a Bjarne Huus kill gave the 49ers the 27-25 victory.
CSUN used a run midway through set four to take an 18-10 advantage. LBSU would cut the deficit to 19-15 on a double block by Tuaniga and Gregory, but that was the closest the visitors would get as the Matadors emerged with the 25-19 win.
Long Beach State fell behind 2-0 early in the decisive fifth set, before consecutive kills from Ensing and DeFalco evened the playing field. A seesaw battle ensued with four more deadlocks until back-to-back aces by Sam Porter gave the home team the slight 8-6 edge at the side switch. Porter missed his next serve but the Matadors did not give up a real point for the remainder of the set. LBSU was able to hold off one match point with an Ensing kill before CSUN secured the 15-13 win.
Arvis Greene paced the Matadors with a career-high 21 kills, while Dimitar Kalchev added a double-double (17 kills, 13 digs). CSUN was just the second team to hit over .300 against the 49ers this year with a .305 clip.
Long Beach State returns to action next week when it hosts No. 7 UC Santa Barbara (March 23) and No. 3 UCLA (March 26) in its final regular-season homestand.
NOTES: Long Beach State suffered its first loss to a team outside of the top-five ... The Beach dropped to 1-3 in five-set matches ... CSUN earned its first win over LBSU since 2012, ending an eight-match series losing streak ... Four 49ers had double-figure kills for the first time this season ... No. 1 BYU also lost, putting Long Beach State in a four-way tie with the Cougars, UCLA and Stanford in the MPSF standings ... Kyle Ensing registered his third double-double, while TJ DeFalco had his 20th double-digit kill match ... The Beach is still one victory away from its 17th 20-win season and sixth under head coach Alan Knipe.
