Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
2-0
Princeton
0-2
No. 2 Long Beach State Downs Princeton in Straight Sets
1/5/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- The second-ranked Long Beach State men's volleyball team dominated offensively, hitting .542, as the Beach swept Princeton 3-0 [25-16, 25-11, 25-14] on Friday at the UCSB ASICS Tournament.
The Beach (2-0) found their stride on both sides of the ball as the offense knocked down 43 kills on 72 attempts while committing just four errors, and the defense limited the Tigers (0-2) to a mere .059 attack percentage (20-16-68). With everything clicking for the Beach, they did not allow the Tigers to score more than 16 points in a single set.
Junior outside hitter TJ DeFalco led the Beach with 11 kills on 17 attempts without an attack error for a .647 attack percentage. He also dished out five assists, posted five digs, recorded a pair of service aces and put up one block assist in the match. DeFalco now has 60 double-figure kill performances in his career.
Bjarne Huus, Simon Anderson, and Kyle Ensing were also key components offensively. Huus registered eight kills, while Anderson added seven, and Ensing notched six. The quartet of DeFalco, Huus, Anderson and Ensing all hit above .400 in the match. Ensing did not commit an attack error as he recorded his six kills on 12 attempts for a .500 hitting percentage.
Huus celebrated his birthday with eight kills on 14 attempts without an error to hit .571. He also added three digs and one block assist.
Setting the tone for Long Beach State's offense was junior Josh Tuaniga who dished out 29 assists in the contest. Tuaniga added three kills on as many attempts for a perfect 1.000 attack percentage. He also registered a pair of service aces and five digs.
Defensively, the Beach logged 23 digs and six block assists for a total of 3.0 team blocks. They kept the Tigers off balance forcing them into 16 attack errors.
Ensing led the team with seven digs, while Tuaniga and DeFalco added five. Anderson, meanwhile, posted a pair of blocks at the net.
Long Beach State was on point from the beginning as the Beach took a 2-0 lead in set one and never looked back. LBSU hit .542 (14-1-24) in the first set and led by as many as nine (21-12). With the team firing on all cylinders, the Beach cruised to a 25-16 lead.
In the second set, the Beach forced the Tigers into as many attack errors as they had kills to even their hitting percentage at .000 (6-6-21). Meanwhile, Long Beach State recorded 14 kills on 25 attempts with just two errors to record an attack percentage of .480. The Beach owned a sideout percentage of 91 percent in the frame and kept the Tigers at a distance throughout as they rolled over Princeton, 25-11, to take a 2-0 set lead.
Long Beach State's offense was even more impressive in the third set as the Beach registered 15 kills on 23 attempts and committed just one attack error to hit .609 in the frame. The Tigers managed to connect on seven kills, but were also forced into six attack errors as they hit .037. The Beach led the majority of the game and went on to earn a 25-14 victory to complete the three-game sweep.
The Beach will return to action tonight at 8 p.m. against NJIT at The Thunderdome at the UCSB ASICS Tournament.
