No. 1 Long Beach State Sweeps Penn State in AVCA Showcase

Friday, February 8

Long Beach, Calif.

8:00 PM

Long Beach State University

11-0

Penn State

4-5

Penn State

Long Beach State

Photo by: John Fajardo

2/9/2019 12:05:00 AM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

TJ DeFalco leads the charge with 14 kills, while hitting .737 in the victory

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

Hear what @LBSUMVB head coach and seniors Josh Tuaniga and TJ DeFalco had to say about the Beach's 3-0 sweep over Penn State in the AVCA Showcase #GoBeach #LBNation

https://t.co/HCr7pq6W5J via @LBSUAthletics
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) February 9, 2019

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

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Everything was clicking for top-ranked Long Beach State on Friday night as the Beach collected a 3-0 [25-13, 25-21, 25-15] sweep over Penn State at the AVCA Showcase. LBSU hit season-high .514 in the contest as the Beach picked up their 11th straight win.

The Beach (11-0) led the Nittany Lions (4-5) throughout the entire first and third sets, never allow Penn State to score more than 15 points. The second set saw eight ties early on, but a 3-0 LBSU run highlighted by a kill from Simon Andersen and back-to-back kills from TJ DeFalco gave the Beach a lead it would not surrender.

DeFalco turned in an outstanding performance leading the team with 14 kills on 19 swings without committing an attack error to hit an impressive .737 on the night. The senior outside added three service aces bringing his career total to 146 as he is now just 13 aces away from becoming Long Beach State's all-time service aces leader.

In addition to his strong offensive showing, DeFalco added five digs and a solo block to help the Beach limit the Nittany Lions to a .136 attack percentage.

Also complementing the Beach's offensive output were Simon Andersen (9 kills) and Kyle Ensing (7 kills). Andersen hit .615 in the match, while posting two block assists.

Senior setter Josh Tuaniga distributed the ball well once again as he dished out 34 assists to pace the Beach. His solid passing has led to a .428 season attack percentage for Long Beach State which ranks second in the nation.
Tuaniga, DeFalco, Ensing and Louis Richard each racked up five digs to lead the defensive effort, while senior libero Jordan Molina added four.

Long Beach State was hot to start the match as the Beach hit .684 (14-1-19) in the first set and held Penn State to a .042 attack percentage. The Beach owned a commanding 92 percent sideout percentage and rolled to a 25-13 win.

The Nittany Lions turned in their best effort of the night in the second set as they hit .200 and knocked down 13 kills. However, Long Beach State hit .440 (13-2-25) and, after several early ties, broke the game open before taking the second set, 25-21.

Leading two sets to none, Long Beach State kicked off the third set with three straight points highlighted by kills from Andersen and DeFalco. The early 3-0 lead was all the Beach needed as they led the rest of the way en route to picking up a 25-15 victory.

BEACH WIN! Long Beach State improves to 11-0 as the Beach defeat Penn State, 25-15 in set 3 #GoBeach #LBNation pic.twitter.com/hpRCPY9qxn
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) February 9, 2019