No. 10 LBSU Falls in Four Sets at No. 3 UC Santa Barbara in Season Opener

Saturday, March 20

Santa Barbara, Calif.

4:00 PM

Long Beach State University

0-1,0-1Big West

UC Santa Barbara

5-3,1-2Big West

Long Beach St.

UC Santa Barbara

Photo by: John Fajardo

No. 10 LBSU Falls in Four Sets at No. 3 UC Santa Barbara in Season Opener

3/20/2021 7:15:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

Shane Holdaway led the Beach with a .438 hitting percentage and nine kills

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

Box Score (PDF)

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The No. 10 Long Beach State men's volleyball team took the court in an official match for the first time in 379 days on Saturday evening and dropped a 3-1 [21-25, 15-25, 27-25, 20-25] decision to No. 3 UC Santa Barbara at Rob Gym in Santa Barbara, Calif.

The Beach (0-1, 0-1 Big West) started out slowly as they struggled in the first two sets. LBSU hit .154 in the opening frame and -.231 in the second, while UC Santa Barbara (5-3, 1-2 Big West) hit .387 in the first set and .250 in the second to take a quick 2-0 set lead over LBSU.

However, Long Beach State seemed to find its rhythm in the third set as the Beach hit a more characteristic .333 as they knocked down 19 kills on 42 swings with just five errors. The conference foes battled it out in the third as they exchanged leads four times and fought each other through 12 ties.

Sophomore middle blocker Shane Holdaway and freshman outside hitter Clarke Godbold led the balanced attack in the third as they each contributed five kills in the frame. In the match, Holdaway and Godbold would finish with nine kills, to share the lead with Spencer Olivier. The trio, along with freshman opposite Simon Torwie, who added eight kills of his own in the contest, led the Beach to a third-set come back after they found themselves down, 24-22, and facing a sweep.

With their backs against the wall, the Beach showed their grit as Holdaway and Torwie evened the score at 24-24 with back-to-back kills. After UCSB pushed it to match point once again (25-24), Holdaway knocked down another kill, before Olivier served up an ace to give the Beach set point (26-25). Following a timeout by the Gauchos, Long Beach State turned to Holdaway, who slammed down another kill to win the game and force a fourth set.

The fourth set began close, but UC Santa Barbara gained the lead on a 3-0 run which put the Gauchos up 8-4. From there, UCSB never relinquished the lead. The Beach rallied and managed to cut the deficit down to two (19-17) on an ace from Holdaway, but the Gauchos pushed ahead once again and took the fourth set, 25-20.

The setback marks Long Beach State's first Big West Conference loss since the 2018 season when the Beach dropped the last regular season match of the year, 3-2, to then-No. 6 Hawai'i in a tough road battle on April 14, 2018.
Holdaway led the Beach with a .438 (9-2-16) attack percentage to go along with three total blocks, two digs, and an ace. Redshirt freshman setter Aidan Knipe did a good job distributing the ball as he collected 39 assists in his collegiate debut. He also added six digs on the night.

Freshman libero Mason Briggs led the defensive effort with 10 digs. His solid effort in the backcourt helped hold the Gauchos to just a .125 attack percentage in the fourth set.

UCSB had three players score in double-figures as Roy McFarland led the way with 15 kills, while Randy DeWeese added 12, and Ryan Wilcox finished with 10. Wilcox notched a double-double as he added 18 digs to his double-digit kill effort, while Casey McGarry set the tone with 45 assists.

Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara will face off again on Sunday, March 21 at 4 p.m. at the Walter Pyramid.