Long Beach State University Athletics
Thursday, March 14
Long Beach, Calif.
7:00 PM
Long Beach State University
18-0 (3-0Big West)
3
vs
2
UC Santa Barbara
15-4 (2-1Big West)
1st set1
2nd set2
3rd set3
4th set4
5th set5
FinalF
UC Santa Barbara
25
15
28
17
11
2
Long Beach State
22
25
26
25
15
3
Photo by: John Fajardo
No. 1 Long Beach State Earns Gritty, Hard-Fought Victory Over No. 3 UC Santa Barbara
3/15/2019 12:12:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
Senior opposite Kyle Ensing tied his career-high with 27 kills in the match
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Box Score | Play-By-Play (PDF)
LONG BEACH, Calif. – The top-ranked Long Beach State men's volleyball team showed their grit and determination on Thursday night when the Beach defeated No. 3 UC Santa Barbara in a thrilling five-set [22-25, 25-15, 26-28, 25-17, 15-11] contest at the Walter Pyramid.
The Beach (18-0, 3-0 Big West) battled the Gauchos (15-4, 2-1 Big West) throughout the match before winning the fourth and fifth sets to extend their winning streak to 22. The victory for Long Beach State snapped a 12-match UC Santa Barbara winning streak as the Gauchos suffered their first setback since January 16.
The exciting back-and-forth affair between the two conference foes saw several career- and season-highs for the Beach.
Senior opposite Kyle Ensing had a huge night leading the LBSU offense with a career-high tying 27 kills on a .471 attack percentage (27-3-51). Ensing also tied his season-best with seven digs, to go along with four blocks, and three service aces in an outstanding performance on both sides of the ball.
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While Ensing's night was impressive, so was senior setter Josh Tuaniga's. Tuaniga dished out a season-high 55 assists and 10 digs for his first double-double of the season as he guided the Beach to a .356 attack percentage on the night. He also contributed four blocks, two aces, and a pair of kills.
Nick Amado also had a career night as the senior middle blocker finished with a career-best 11 kills and four aces. Amado hit .556 in the match (11-1-18) and posted four blocks to set the tone both offensively and defensively.
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Joining Ensing and Amado with double-digit kills was TJ DeFalco who tallied 12 in the contest. DeFalco also collected eight digs in the match and tied assistant coach Scott Touzinsky's program record of 158 career aces.
Defensively, Jordan Molina paced the squad with a season-high 12 digs, while Simon Andersen led the team at the net with five block assists.
Despite out-hitting UC Santa Barbara .433 to .323 in the first set, Long Beach State found itself in unfamiliar territory, having not dropped the first set of a match in nearly a year. The Beach and Gauchos fought through five early ties in the frame before UCSB tallied three straight points to take a 10-7 lead that LBSU was unable to overcome. The Gauchos held the lead the rest of the way and took the first set by a score of 25-22.
LB Grit was on full display in the second set as the Beach bounded back and hit .417 in the match, while limiting the Gauchos to a .111 attack percentage. Long Beach State took a 3-1 lead on DeFalco's record-tying ace and never looked back. The Beach pushed their lead up to eight (21-13) after going on a 4-0 run highlighted by a kill from DeFalco that led to a UCSB timeout. Following the break, Long Beach State cruised to a 25-15 victory to even the match at one set apiece.
With the match all tied up (1-1), the Beach and Gauchos put on a show in the third set. The two teams fought through 12 ties and three lead changes in a frame that saw UCSB outhit LBSU .265 to .226. Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara were deadlocked eight times until the Beach went on a 4-0 run highlighted by back-to-back service aces from Amado that would put LBSU up 17-13.
The Beach found themselves up 23-18 and just one away from set point when the Gauchos went on a 6-0 run to turn a five-point deficit into a one-point lead, 24-23. The two teams traded points battling through four set points, and what looked to be a UCSB win before a challenge call overturned the LBSU net violation call which evened the score at 26-all. Following the overturned challenge, the Gauchos knocked down a kill and an ace to edge the Beach, 28-26.
Trailing two sets to one heading into the fourth set, Long Beach State again battled UC Santa Barbara as the two teams found themselves deadlocked 10 times and exchanged leads on five separate occasions. Long Beach State took advantage of a pair of UCSB attack errors to take a 15-13 lead. From that point, the Beach remained in control the rest of the way. Ensing put the fourth set away with a kill, followed by an ace to win it, 25-17, forcing a fifth and deciding set.
Long Beach State turned in its best performance in the fifth set as the Beach hit .450 – their highest set hitting percentage of the match – while the defense held UC Santa Barbara to a .133 attack percentage. The Beach opened the set with three straight points, getting back-to-back kills from Louis Richard, as the Gauchos called a timeout.
LBSU led the entire fifth set as it pushed its lead to five (8-3) before UCSB began chipping away. The Gauchos refused to quit as they whittled the Beach's lead down to two (9-7) as Long Beach State utilized a timeout. Ensing and Amado put the Beach back up by four with a kill and an ace, respectively, before sending it to match point on a block by Tuaniga and Andersen. Ensing would finish it off, 15-11, with his 27th kill of the match to equal his career-best.
UC Santa Barbara was led by Spencer Fredrick who finished the match with 17 kills, 10 digs, and seven blocks. Corey Chavers and Ryan Wilcox each added 13 kills, Hayden Boehle notched 16 digs, and Brandon Hicks posted eight blocks.
The Beach and the Gauchos will get another look at each other on Friday, March 15 at 7 p.m. at Rob Gym in Santa Barbara, Calif.
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WATCH: @LBSUMVB head coach Alan Knipe, Josh Tuaniga, Kyle Ensing, and Nick Amado talk about the team's 3-2 win over No. 3 UCSB #GoBeach #LBNationhttps://t.co/a2fD3E8edU via @LBSUAthletics
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) March 15, 2019
Box Score | Play-By-Play (PDF)
LONG BEACH, Calif. – The top-ranked Long Beach State men's volleyball team showed their grit and determination on Thursday night when the Beach defeated No. 3 UC Santa Barbara in a thrilling five-set [22-25, 25-15, 26-28, 25-17, 15-11] contest at the Walter Pyramid.
The Beach (18-0, 3-0 Big West) battled the Gauchos (15-4, 2-1 Big West) throughout the match before winning the fourth and fifth sets to extend their winning streak to 22. The victory for Long Beach State snapped a 12-match UC Santa Barbara winning streak as the Gauchos suffered their first setback since January 16.
The exciting back-and-forth affair between the two conference foes saw several career- and season-highs for the Beach.
Senior opposite Kyle Ensing had a huge night leading the LBSU offense with a career-high tying 27 kills on a .471 attack percentage (27-3-51). Ensing also tied his season-best with seven digs, to go along with four blocks, and three service aces in an outstanding performance on both sides of the ball.
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BEACH WIN!!! No. 1 Long Beach State defeats No. 3 UC Santa Barbara, 3-2, after winning 15-11 in set 5 as Kyle Ensing ties his career-high with his 27th kill to end the match! #GoBeach #LBNation pic.twitter.com/Bq7FBKufSE
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) March 15, 2019
While Ensing's night was impressive, so was senior setter Josh Tuaniga's. Tuaniga dished out a season-high 55 assists and 10 digs for his first double-double of the season as he guided the Beach to a .356 attack percentage on the night. He also contributed four blocks, two aces, and a pair of kills.
Nick Amado also had a career night as the senior middle blocker finished with a career-best 11 kills and four aces. Amado hit .556 in the match (11-1-18) and posted four blocks to set the tone both offensively and defensively.
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Nick Amado slams his 11th kill of the match for a new career-high! #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/F0Z20YazfA
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) March 15, 2019
Joining Ensing and Amado with double-digit kills was TJ DeFalco who tallied 12 in the contest. DeFalco also collected eight digs in the match and tied assistant coach Scott Touzinsky's program record of 158 career aces.
Defensively, Jordan Molina paced the squad with a season-high 12 digs, while Simon Andersen led the team at the net with five block assists.
Despite out-hitting UC Santa Barbara .433 to .323 in the first set, Long Beach State found itself in unfamiliar territory, having not dropped the first set of a match in nearly a year. The Beach and Gauchos fought through five early ties in the frame before UCSB tallied three straight points to take a 10-7 lead that LBSU was unable to overcome. The Gauchos held the lead the rest of the way and took the first set by a score of 25-22.
LB Grit was on full display in the second set as the Beach bounded back and hit .417 in the match, while limiting the Gauchos to a .111 attack percentage. Long Beach State took a 3-1 lead on DeFalco's record-tying ace and never looked back. The Beach pushed their lead up to eight (21-13) after going on a 4-0 run highlighted by a kill from DeFalco that led to a UCSB timeout. Following the break, Long Beach State cruised to a 25-15 victory to even the match at one set apiece.
With the match all tied up (1-1), the Beach and Gauchos put on a show in the third set. The two teams fought through 12 ties and three lead changes in a frame that saw UCSB outhit LBSU .265 to .226. Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara were deadlocked eight times until the Beach went on a 4-0 run highlighted by back-to-back service aces from Amado that would put LBSU up 17-13.
The Beach found themselves up 23-18 and just one away from set point when the Gauchos went on a 6-0 run to turn a five-point deficit into a one-point lead, 24-23. The two teams traded points battling through four set points, and what looked to be a UCSB win before a challenge call overturned the LBSU net violation call which evened the score at 26-all. Following the overturned challenge, the Gauchos knocked down a kill and an ace to edge the Beach, 28-26.
Trailing two sets to one heading into the fourth set, Long Beach State again battled UC Santa Barbara as the two teams found themselves deadlocked 10 times and exchanged leads on five separate occasions. Long Beach State took advantage of a pair of UCSB attack errors to take a 15-13 lead. From that point, the Beach remained in control the rest of the way. Ensing put the fourth set away with a kill, followed by an ace to win it, 25-17, forcing a fifth and deciding set.
Long Beach State turned in its best performance in the fifth set as the Beach hit .450 – their highest set hitting percentage of the match – while the defense held UC Santa Barbara to a .133 attack percentage. The Beach opened the set with three straight points, getting back-to-back kills from Louis Richard, as the Gauchos called a timeout.
LBSU led the entire fifth set as it pushed its lead to five (8-3) before UCSB began chipping away. The Gauchos refused to quit as they whittled the Beach's lead down to two (9-7) as Long Beach State utilized a timeout. Ensing and Amado put the Beach back up by four with a kill and an ace, respectively, before sending it to match point on a block by Tuaniga and Andersen. Ensing would finish it off, 15-11, with his 27th kill of the match to equal his career-best.
UC Santa Barbara was led by Spencer Fredrick who finished the match with 17 kills, 10 digs, and seven blocks. Corey Chavers and Ryan Wilcox each added 13 kills, Hayden Boehle notched 16 digs, and Brandon Hicks posted eight blocks.
The Beach and the Gauchos will get another look at each other on Friday, March 15 at 7 p.m. at Rob Gym in Santa Barbara, Calif.
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Team Stats
UCSB
LBSU
Kills
56
63
Errors
28
15
Attempts
148
135
Hitting %
.189
.356
Points
74.0
83.5
Assists
52
61
Aces
5
10
Blocks
13.0
10.5
Game Leaders
Kills
27
Aces
3
Blocks
4
Kills
12
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
11
Aces
4
Blocks
4
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's VolleyballOPP
/ Men's Volleyball
L
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
S
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