Friday, March 26
Long Beach, Calif.
4:00 PM
Long Beach State University
2-1,2-1Big West
3
vs
1
UC Irvine
2-7,2-3Big West
1
2
3
4
F
UC Irvine
25
20
17
13
1
Long Beach St.
22
25
25
25
3
Photo by: John Fajardo
No. 7 Long Beach State Downs No. 13 UC Irvine in Four
3/26/2021 7:49:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
Spencer Olivier led the offensive attack with a career-high 17 kills, while Aidan Knipe piloted the Beach to a .357 attack percentage
Box Score (PDF)
LONG BEACH, Calif. – No. 7 Long Beach State used a balanced offensive attack to defeat No. 13 UC Irvine, 3-1 [22-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-13] on Friday evening at the Walter Pyramid.
With the win, LBSU improves to 2-1 overall and in Big West action, while UCI drops to 2-7 on the year and 2-3 in league play. The Beach have now won 21-straight home, conference contests dating back to 2017 to rank second in the Long Beach State record book.
The Beach started off slow, but quickly got into rhythm as they won the second, third and fourth sets more convincingly with each game.
Sophomore outside hitter Spencer Olivier led the Beach once again with another career-high performance as he poured in 17 kills to go along with four blocks, three digs, and two aces. He led a trio of LBSU players to record double digits as Simon Torwie notched a season-high 12 kills and Clarke Godbold registered 10. Godbold, along with freshman libero Mason Briggs, led the squad with seven digs.
Pacing the offense, which finished with a .357 attack percentage, was freshman setter Aidan Knipe. Coming off of his first-ever Big West Conference Freshman of the Week honor, Knipe dished out 45 assists, while adding five digs, three blocks, and once ace.
At the net, the Beach logged 11.0 total team blocks as junior middle blocker Simon Andersen led the way with six. Sophomore middle blocker Grant Marocchi came off the bench and posted three blocks for a new career-best.
UC Irvine, which was led by 15 kills from Joel Schneidmiller and 13 kills from Doug Dahm, hit .202 in the match. The Anteaters started with a .323 attack percentage in set one as they defeated the Beach, 25-22.
However, Long Beach State bounced back and after hitting just .194 in the opening frame, hit over .400 in the next sets.
The Beach turned in a .458 showing in the second set as they knocked down 14 kills on 24 swings with just three errors. While the offense dominated, so did the defense as LBSU heled UCI to a .188 clip in the second game en route to a 25-20 win.
With the match even at one set apiece, Long Beach State cruised in the third set as the Beach outhit the Anteaters .423 to .192. Following a few early ties, LBSU controlled the set as the Beach earned a 25-17 victory to take a 2-1 set lead.
Long Beach State took a quick 3-0 lead to start the fourth set and never looked back. The Beach led the whole set hitting .423 to UCI's mere .050 hitting percentage. LBSU dominated as the Beach extended its lead to as many as 10, before Ethan Siegfried came in and closed out the match with back-to-back aces as Long Beach earned a 25-13 victory.
The Beach and the Anteaters will be back in action on Saturday, March 27 at the Bren Events Center. First serve is scheduled for 4 p.m. The match will be broadcast on ESPN3.
LONG BEACH, Calif. – No. 7 Long Beach State used a balanced offensive attack to defeat No. 13 UC Irvine, 3-1 [22-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-13] on Friday evening at the Walter Pyramid.
With the win, LBSU improves to 2-1 overall and in Big West action, while UCI drops to 2-7 on the year and 2-3 in league play. The Beach have now won 21-straight home, conference contests dating back to 2017 to rank second in the Long Beach State record book.
The Beach started off slow, but quickly got into rhythm as they won the second, third and fourth sets more convincingly with each game.
Sophomore outside hitter Spencer Olivier led the Beach once again with another career-high performance as he poured in 17 kills to go along with four blocks, three digs, and two aces. He led a trio of LBSU players to record double digits as Simon Torwie notched a season-high 12 kills and Clarke Godbold registered 10. Godbold, along with freshman libero Mason Briggs, led the squad with seven digs.
Spencer Olivier goes cross-court to give LBSU a 5-4 lead #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/4koWmWhOGK
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) March 26, 2021
Pacing the offense, which finished with a .357 attack percentage, was freshman setter Aidan Knipe. Coming off of his first-ever Big West Conference Freshman of the Week honor, Knipe dished out 45 assists, while adding five digs, three blocks, and once ace.
At the net, the Beach logged 11.0 total team blocks as junior middle blocker Simon Andersen led the way with six. Sophomore middle blocker Grant Marocchi came off the bench and posted three blocks for a new career-best.
UC Irvine, which was led by 15 kills from Joel Schneidmiller and 13 kills from Doug Dahm, hit .202 in the match. The Anteaters started with a .323 attack percentage in set one as they defeated the Beach, 25-22.
However, Long Beach State bounced back and after hitting just .194 in the opening frame, hit over .400 in the next sets.
The Beach turned in a .458 showing in the second set as they knocked down 14 kills on 24 swings with just three errors. While the offense dominated, so did the defense as LBSU heled UCI to a .188 clip in the second game en route to a 25-20 win.
With the match even at one set apiece, Long Beach State cruised in the third set as the Beach outhit the Anteaters .423 to .192. Following a few early ties, LBSU controlled the set as the Beach earned a 25-17 victory to take a 2-1 set lead.
Long Beach State took a quick 3-0 lead to start the fourth set and never looked back. The Beach led the whole set hitting .423 to UCI's mere .050 hitting percentage. LBSU dominated as the Beach extended its lead to as many as 10, before Ethan Siegfried came in and closed out the match with back-to-back aces as Long Beach earned a 25-13 victory.
#7 Long Beach State defeats #13 UC Irvine, 3-1 #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/t1OZaAaY1z
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) March 27, 2021
The Beach and the Anteaters will be back in action on Saturday, March 27 at the Bren Events Center. First serve is scheduled for 4 p.m. The match will be broadcast on ESPN3.
??PRESS CONFERENCE: @LBSUMVB head coach Alan Knipe, sophomore outside hitter Spencer Olivier and freshman libero Mason Briggs talk about the Beach's 3-1 win over UCI #GoBeach #LBNationhttps://t.co/UpVq1ryj4o
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) March 27, 2021
Team Stats
Irvine
LBSU
Kills
47
52
Errors
26
12
Attempts
110
111
Hitting %
.191
.360
Points
54
70.5
Assists
43
48
Aces
1
6
Blocks
6
12.5
Game Leaders
Kills
17
Aces
2
Blocks
4
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
10
Aces
1
Blocks
3
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
6
Players Mentioned
MB
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MB
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