Top-Ranked Long Beach State Defeats Alberta, McMaster in Final Day of North American Challenge

Monday, December 31

Long Beach, Calif.

9:00 AM

Long Beach State University

Alberta

ALBERTA

Long Beach State

Top-Ranked Long Beach State Defeats Alberta, McMaster in Final Day of North American Challenge

12/31/2018 7:48:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

The Beach picked up a pair of 2-1 victories in the exhibition tournament

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

LBSU-Alberta Box Score (PDF) | LBSU-McMaster Box Score (PDF)

Photo Gallery - LBSU-McMaster

LONG BEACH, Calif. – The Long Beach State men's volleyball team closed out 2018 with a pair of 2-1 victories over Alberta and McMaster on the final day of the North American Challenge exhibition tournament. The Beach defeated Alberta by set scores of 25-21, 25-20, 13-15, before earning a 26-24, 20-25, 15-12 win over McMaster. The last day of the tournament featured pre-determined three-set matches in the final tune up before the official start to the 2019 season on January 3.

Long Beach State and Alberta faced off at 9 a.m. and the Beach claimed the first two sets before dropping the third. LBSU hit .317 in the contest, while Alberta it .212. Spencer Olivier led the team with nine kills as he hit .500 (9-2-14) in the match. He also added two digs and a pair of blocks.

Sophomore setter Carlos Rivera earned the start and dished out 24 assists, while adding six digs to tie freshman libero Grant Guinasso for the team lead. Redshirt freshman Marc Moody was solid at the net posting three block assists, while adding five kills on .571 hitting (5-1-7).

The Beach held the edge over the Golden Bears in kills (33-29), assists (32-28), aces (3-2), and digs (20-11). Long Beach State and Alberta each finished the contest with 6.0 total team blocks.

Following the 2-1 win over Alberta, the Beach returned to the court for the 5 p.m. match against McMaster and picked up another 2-1 victory, this time winning the first and third sets.

LBSU hit .326 in the final match of the tournament, while McMaster hit .237. The Beach offense was paced by Rivera at setter, once again, as he distributed 35 assists which contributed to 39 total kills. Leading Long Beach State's offensive attack were senior Louis Richard and redshirt freshman Alexander Anastassiades who each tallied 11 kills on the night.

Anastassiades added seven digs to tie senior libero Jordan Molina for the team lead. The opposite out of Limassol, Cyprus also added one block assist and finished the match with a .296 attack percentage.

Richard along with sophomore Simon Andersen contributed solid blocking defense as Andersen led the way with four total blocks and Richard added three. Anderson was consistent on both sides of the ball as he also registered nine kills on 11 swings while committing just one error for a .727 attack percentage.

Long Beach State and McMaster battled each other in the first set as the two teams fought through 15 ties and three lead changes before the Beach took the game, 26-24. The Marauders earned the win in set two, 25-20, after limiting the strong Beach offense to just .138 hitting (8-4-29) in the frame.

With the match ties at one set apiece, Long Beach State bounced back and hit an impressive .600 (10-1-15) in the third set to pick up a 15-12 win.

Long Beach State defeats McMaster, 15-12, on a kill by Siegfried to win the match 2-1 #GoBeach #LBNation pic.twitter.com/HAEh5tXzI7
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) January 1, 2019

Long Beach State will open the 2019 at the UCSB Asics Invitational on Thursday, Jan. 3 when the Beach take on No. 14 Grand Canyon.

The LBSU home opener is set for Friday, Jan. 25 against USC at 7 p.m. inside the Walter Pyramid. Fans can purchase season tickets by clicking HERE. Season ticket holders will receive priority to purchase tickets to the 2019 NCAA Tournament on May 2 and 4, which will be held at the Walter Pyramid. For more information on Long Beach State Men's Volleyball tickets, please call or text the LBSU Ticket Office at: 562-985-4949.