Balanced Offense Leads No. 5 LBSU to 3-1 Win Over No. 15 Ohio State

Saturday, February 8

Columbus, Ohio

4:00 PM

Long Beach State University

7-1

Ohio State

8-3

Long Beach St.

Ohio State

Photo by: John Fajardo

Balanced Offense Leads No. 5 LBSU to 3-1 Win Over No. 15 Ohio State

2/8/2020 7:51:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

The Beach hit .392 in the match and had four players reach double-figure kills in the victory

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

Box Score (PDF)

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Big West was victorious over the Big Ten at the Battle of the Bigs Tournament held at the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio as No. 5 Long Beach State used a balanced offense to take a 3-1 [25-21, 25-20, 28-30, 25-22] win over No. 15 Ohio State to close out the tournament on Saturday night.

With the win, Long Beach State improves to 7-1 on the year, while Ohio State drops to 8-3.

Junior setter Carlos Rivera led the Beach as he dished out 45 assists, while adding nine digs, three blocks, and two kills as LBSU hit .392, marking the team's highest attack percentage of the season.
Rivera did a nice job spreading the ball around as four Beach players each reached double figure kills. Leading the offense was redshirt sophomore outside hitter Spencer Olivier who finished the match with 15 kills, while hitting .321 (15-6-28). Junior outside hitter Ethan Siegfried added 14 kills on .419 hitting (14-1-31), while junior opposite Simon Andersen contributed 13 kills with a .345 clip, and sophomore middle blocker Shane Holdaway registered 10 kills while hitting .389 (10-3-18).

The LBSU offense never hit lower than .314 in a single set and boasted a sideout percentage of 74 percent for the match.

The Beach also racked up six service aces in the match as Andersen and Olivier each notched a pair.

Long Beach State's defense turned in a solid effort as well. Rivera led the Beach with nine digs, while Andersen added eight, and Siegfried and freshman libero Mason Briggs each recorded seven.

Holdaway's five block assists at the net led the squad, while Rivera and middle blocker Marc Moody each added three block assists to contribute to the Beach's 8.5 total team blocks.

The Beach controlled the first two sets as they never allowed the Buckeyes to take a lead. Following two early ties in both sets, Long Beach State took the lead and never relinquished it. LBSU cruised to a 25-21 win in the first set, before claiming the second set, 25-20.

Things got interesting in the third set as the two teams battled each other through 15 ties and three lead changes. Long Beach State sent it to match point (24-23) on a kill from Moody and Ohio State called a timeout. The break in action allowed the Buckeyes to turn the tables on the Beach as OSU knocked down back-to-back kills to erase LBSU's match point and send it to set point for themselves. From there, both teams battled through four more set and match points before Ohio State closed out the set with three-straight points to win 30-28 and force a fourth set.

Following the barn burner of a third set, the Beach were determined to put the Buckeyes away. The gritty Beach came out and used a 6-0 run to jump out to an 8-2 lead. Ohio State's timeout mid-run did little to stop Long Beach State. The Beach forged ahead and held the lead the rest of the way. A block by Olivier, Moody, and Rivera gave LBSU match point, 24-20, and the Buckeyes called for a timeout. From there, Ohio State managed to hold off two more match points, before the Beach emerged victorious on a kill from Olivier, 25-22.

The Buckeyes were led by Reese Devilbiss' 19 kills on a .400 attack percentage, while Martin Lallemand added 16 kills, and Tyler Alter contributed 15. Setter Michael Wright finished with a double-double (49 assists, 10 digs), and Luke Meidel added 10 digs in the backrow.

Next up for Long Beach State is a battle with the LBSU Alumni on Sunday, February 16 at 1 p.m. at the Walter Pyramid.