No. 2 Long Beach State Earns Gritty Win Over No. 7 UC Irvine in Black & Blue Rivalry

Saturday, March 30

Long Beach, Calif.

7:00 PM

Long Beach State University

21-1 (6-0Big West)

UC Irvine

14-9 (2-4Big West)

UC Irvine

Long Beach State

Photo by: John Fajardo

No. 2 Long Beach State Earns Gritty Win Over No. 7 UC Irvine in Black & Blue Rivalry

3/30/2019 11:26:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

The Beach have now won a program-best 38 straight home contests

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

WATCH: @LBSUMVB Head Coach Alan Knipe and seniors Jordan Molina and Nick Amado talk about the team's 3-0 sweep of No. 7 UC Irvine #GoBeach #LBNation https://t.co/xAlCevfni8 via @LBSUAthletics
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) March 31, 2019

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

Photo Gallery

LONG BEACH, Calif. – The No. 2 Long Beach State men's volleyball team battled No. 7 UC Irvine on Saturday night in the Black and Blue Rivalry and came away with a hard-fought 3-0 [28-26, 26-24, 25-14] sweep of the Anteaters as the Beach won their 38th-straight match inside the Walter Pyramid.

The Beach improved to 21-1 overall and 6-0 in the Big West as they continued their home winning streak behind 13 kills from Kyle Ensing, nine kills from Nick Amado, and 36 assists and nine digs from Josh Tuaniga.

Ensing led all scorers, while adding three aces in the win, while Tuaniga narrowly missed a double-double as he led the Beach to a .542 attack percentage in the third set. Amado, meanwhile, was on fire offensively connecting on 9-of-11 swings without an error to hit .818 in the match. He also posted a team-best three blocks.

LBSU and UC Irvine (14-9, 2-4 Big West) opened the match with a back-and-forth affair that saw 12 ties, three changes, and five set points. The Beach took a 23-21 lead on an 'Eaters attack error forcing UCI to call a timeout. Following the break, Long Beach State pushed the game to its first set point, 24-22, but UC Irvine fought back and evened the score at 24-all as LBSU called for a break in action. The conference foes continued trading points until the Beach won on a UCI attack error. The Anteaters utilized a challenge, but the call stood as Long Beach State picked up a 28-26 victory.

UC Irvine hit .367 in the second set and jumped out in front and led for most of the frame. The Anteaters took a 22-18 lead and the Beach called a timeout to regroup. The break was just what Long Beach State needed as the team returned to the court and made it a one-point game (23-22) forcing a UCI timeout. The hiatus didn't stop the Beach as they surged ahead and evened the score on a kill off the hands of Ensing. After UC Irvine sent it to set point (24-23), LBSU went on a 3-0 run to rally and win the set on a kill from Louis Richard.

The momentum from the come-from-behind second-set victory spilled over to the third set as Long Beach State dominated the game hitting .542 (15-2-24), while the Beach defense kept the 'Eaters off balance as the visitors hit .000 (7-7-26) in the frame. Long Beach State broke an early tie (3-3) on a kill from Amado and led the rest of the way as the Beach cruised to a 25-14 victory to complete the sweep.

BEACH WIN!!! #2 Long Beach State sweeps #7 UC Irvine, 3-0 [28-26, 26-24, 25-14] #GoBeach #LBNation pic.twitter.com/ZYzgkCeaPn
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) March 31, 2019

Aaron Koubi led the way for UC Irvine finishing the match with 11 kills on .333 hitting, while adding five digs. Dante Chakravorti added 29 assists and eight digs, while David Parker contributed seven digs.

Long Beach State will be back in action next weekend against UC San Diego. The Beach and the Tritons play at the Pyramid on Friday, April 5 at 7 p.m., before going head-to-head in San Diego on Saturday, April 6 at 7 p.m.