No. 1 LBSU Goes 3-0 at UCSB Asics Invitational After Capturing Sweep of Harvard

Saturday, January 5

Santa Barbara, Calif.

5:30 PM

Long Beach State University

3-0

Harvard

0-3

Harvard

Long Beach State

Photo by: John Fajardo

No. 1 LBSU Goes 3-0 at UCSB Asics Invitational After Capturing Sweep of Harvard

1/5/2019 8:36:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

Josh Tuaniga and Simon Andersen were named to the All-Tournament Team

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

Box Score (PDF) | Play-By-Play (PDF)

Senior setter Josh Tuaniga talks about the team's performance at the UCSB Asics Invitational and their 3-0 win over Harvard #GoBeach #LBNation pic.twitter.com/rgfx635upy
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) January 6, 2019

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Top-ranked Long Beach State kicked off the 2019 campaign with three sweeps capped by a win over Harvard in straight sets on the final day of the UCSB Asics Invitational. LSBU defeated the Crimson by set scores of 25-16, 25-18, 25-22 as the Beach were led by All-Tournament Team selections Josh Tuaniga and Simon Andersen.

The Beach (3-0) hit .365 against the Crimson (0-3) as Tuaniga paced the offense with 34 assists. The senior setter would finish the tournament with 109 helpers for an average of 12.11 per set. Additionally, Tuaniga tied his career-high with four aces, while adding three kills and two digs against Harvard.

Set 1 | ?? Josh Tuaniga ties his career high with his 4th ace of the match as the Becah lead Harvard 17-10 #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/M2bIABuv7n
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) January 6, 2019

Tuaniga's four aces helped lead the Beach to a total of 10 in the match as they dominated the serve and pass game. Joining Tuaniga with a solid performance from the service line were Andersen (2 aces), Kyle Ensing (2 aces), Shane Holdaway (1 ace) and Ethan Siegfried (1 ace).

Ensing was on fire offensively with 16 kills for a .565 attack percentage (16-3-23) to lead the team. Ensing would finish the tournament with a team-leading 42 kills and a .449 attack percentage. TJ DeFalco and Siegfried each added eight kills, while Holdaway contributed six in his collegiate debut.

Andersen was consistent throughout the tournament as he hit .429 against Harvard with four kills to finish the invitational with 22 kills on .667 hitting (22-2-30), with four blocks.

The Beach controlled the first two sets rolling to a 25-16 victory in the first set and a 25-18 win in the second. After two sets, Long Beach State had already tallied nine aces as the Beach racked up six in the first set and added three in the second.

Long Beach State headed into the third set leading two sets to none, but Harvard hit .391 and forced 12 ties before the Beach broke a 19-19 tie on an Ensing kill that would force the Crimson to call a timeout. Coming out the break, Ensing struck again to give the Beach a 21-19 lead that they would not relinquish. From there, LBSU won the set, 25-22, to compete the sweep.

LBSU will continue its road swing with a pair of matches in North Carolina as the Beach play Mount Olive on Thursday, Jan. 10 at 4 p.m. (PT) before taking on Barton College on Friday, Jan. 11 at 4 p.m. (PT).

LBSU-Harvard Infographic