No. 4 Long Beach State Opens 2020 With a Sweep Over Benedictine Mesa

Thursday, January 9

Santa Barbara, Calif.

8:00 PM

Long Beach State University

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Benedictine University Mesa

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Benedictine Mesa

Long Beach St.

Photo by: Mason Boroff

No. 4 Long Beach State Opens 2020 With a Sweep Over Benedictine Mesa

1/9/2020 11:53:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

Spencer Olivier led the way with 10 kills, while Mason Briggs notched 10 digs in the victory

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

Box Score (PDF)

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – In a battle of the defending National Champions – NCAA and NAIA – No. 4 Long Beach State downed Benedictine Mesa in straight sets [25-13, 25-21, 25-20] to open the 2020 season on Thursday night at the UCSB Asics Invitational at Rob Gym in Santa Barbara, Calif.

The Beach (1-0) hit .292 in the match and held the Redhawks (0-1) to a mere .013 attack percentage as Long Beach State rolled to its first victory of the new season.

Leading the way for the Beach was redshirt sophomore outside hitter Spencer Olivier who finished the match with 10 kills on 20 errorless swings for a .500 attack percentage. Adding to LBSU's offensive attack were middle blockers Simon Andersen (7 kills) as he hit .750 in the match, and Marc Moody who tallied five kills while hitting .400.

Junior setter Carlos Rivera paced the offense distributing 29 assists, while adding nine digs, two kills, two blocks, and one ace in a solid outing.

Defensively, freshman Mason Briggs made the most of his collegiate debut as he collected 10 digs in the back row. At the net, Anderson, Moody, and Alexander Anastassiades each put up three blocks to contribute to the Beach's 6.5 total team blocks.

LBSU started the match off hot as the Beach hit .381 in the opening frame, while forcing Benedictine Mesa into a negative attack percentage (-.185). Long Beach State used an early 5-1 run to take a 6-3 lead that it would hold the rest of the way. The Beach led by double digits (18-8) and eventually cruised to a 25-13 win.

The second set saw the Beach take an early 6-2 lead, before extending that lead up to nine (14-5). The Redhawks battled back and chipped away at LBSU's lead as Benedictine Mesa managed to cut Long Beach State's lead down to two (23-21). After a timeout, Ethan Siegfried took charge and knocked down a kill and gave the Beach the win with an ace to put LBSU two sets to none with a 25-21 victory.

Following five early ties in the third set, Long Beach State took a 12-10 lead after a block assist from Rivera and Andersen. The Beach would hold the lead the rest of the way leading by as many as eight (22-14) after an ace from junior Matt Johnson. The Redhawks countered with a 3-0 run, but LBSU put the game away on a kill from Olivier to complete the sweep.

Long Beach State continues action at the UCSB Asics Invitational on Friday, Jan. 10 when the Beach take on McKendree at 3:00 p.m.