Josh Tuaniga Eclipses 4,000 Career Assists in No. 1 LBSU’s Record-Breaking Sweep of No. 8 Stanford

Friday, March 8

Long Beach, Calif.

7:00 PM

Long Beach State University

16-0

Stanford

12-7

Stanford

Long Beach State

Josh Tuaniga Eclipses 4,000 Career Assists in No. 1 LBSU’s Record-Breaking Sweep of No. 8 Stanford

3/8/2019 11:01:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

The Beach set a new single-match attack percentage of .655 behind 34 assists from Tuaniga

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

WATCH: Head Coach Alan Knipe, Jordan Molina, Josh Tuaniga and Simon Andersen talk about @LBSUMVB's 3-0 victory over Stanford #GoBeach #LBNation https://t.co/fhEI7CMK9D via @LBSUAthletics
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) March 9, 2019

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LONG BEACH, Calif. – Senior setter Josh Tuaniga led the top-ranked Long Beach State men's volleyball program to a record-setting .655 attack percentage on his way to passing the 4,000-career assists milestone as the Beach rolled past No. 8 Stanford, 3-0 [25-18, 25-13, 25-14] at the Walter Pyramid on Friday night.

The Beach (16-0) offense was on fire as the team never hit below .455 in a single set and finished the match with an attack percentage of .655 (43-5-58) which is a new LBSU single-match hitting percentage record. The mark bests the previous record of .614 that Long Beach State set in 1983 against Stanford, before reaching again in 1996 at Purdue-Fort Wayne. Tonight's clip of .655 is good for third in the NCAA single-game, three-set match (2001-present) record book.

Long Beach State saw its offense get better with each set as the Beach hit .455 (13-3-22) in the first set, .667 (14-2-18) in the second set, and finally .889 (16-0-18) in the third set. The mark of .889 ranks second in the LBSU single-match record book for set hitting percentage.

On a night where everything was clicking for Long Beach State, Stanford (12-7) was unable to score more than 18 points in a single set as the Beach kept a tough Cardinal squad quiet most of the night.

The offensive attack was led by Tuaniga who dished out 34 assists en route to becoming just the fifth player in Long Beach State men's volleyball history to reach the 4,000 assists plateau. Tuangia's career total is now at 4,015.

THERE IT IS! Career assist No. 4,000 for Josh Tuaniga! #GoBeach #LBNation pic.twitter.com/u6Q6ODyjAq
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) March 9, 2019

In addition to contributing 34 assists, Tuaniga also helped the offense with five kills on six swings for a .667 attack percentage.

The Beach received solid offensive outings from everyone who took a swing. Not one player who recorded an attack hit under .500 on the night. Leading the way for the Beach was sophomore middle blocker Simon Andersen who registered an attack percentage of .875 as he knocked down seven kills on eight swings without an error.

Senior outside hitter TJ DeFaclo led the Beach with 11 kills on a .600 clip (11-2-15), while senior opposite Kyle Ensing also reached double figures with 10 kills while hitting .600 (10-1-15).

After a few early ties to start the match, Long Beach State used a 6-1 run to take a 13-9 lead over Stanford that it would not relinquish as the Beach claimed the first set, 25-18.

The Beach dominated the second set as they outhit the Cardinal .667 to .158 and limited Stanford to just 13 points in the frame. Long Beach State led 19-10 as Stanford called a timeout to regroup. Following the break in action, Tuaniga passed the ball to Nick Amado who went cross-court for one of his six kills of the match to give the Beach a 20-11 lead and Tuaniga his 4,000th career assist. From there, the Beach cruised to a 25-13 victory.

Leading two sets to none, Long Beach State turned in its most dominating offensive showing of the night as the Beach slammed 16 kills on 18 swings without committing an attack error for an impressive hitting percentage of .889. The clip is the highest set hitting percentage since 2011 and the second-highest in program history as the Beach picked up a 25-14 victory to complete the sweep and pick up their 20th-straight win (dating back to last season) and 35th-straight home victory.

BEACH WIN!!! Long Beach State defeats Stanford 3-0 after winning by scores of 25-18, 25-13, 25-14 #GoBeach #LBNation pic.twitter.com/BK5kXTx9aG
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) March 9, 2019

Long Beach State will be back in action on Saturday, March 9 when it hosts Saint Francis (Pa.) at 7 p.m.