Friday, February 11
Long Beach, Calif.
7:00 PM
Long Beach State University
7-1,0-0Big West
3
vs
0
UCLA
7-2,0-0MPSF
1
2
3
F
UCLA
22
23
13
0
Long Beach St.
25
25
25
3
Photo by: John Fajardo
Top-Ranked Long Beach State Sweeps No. 2 UCLA
2/11/2022 10:37:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
The Beach hits .400 in the match as Clarke Godbold records a career-high 17 kills in the win
Box Score (PDF) | Photo Gallery
LONG BEACH, Calif. – It was a battle of the top two teams in the country on Friday night inside the Walter Pyramid and the Beach showed they were No. 1 as Long Beach State swept No. 2 UCLA by set scores of 25-22, 25-23, 25-13.
The Beach (7-1) rolled passed the Bruins (7-2) in straight sets hitting .400 in the match while posting 7.0 total team blocks and 33 digs. The two rivals battled each other through 12 ties and two lead changes in the first set, before Long Beach State limited UCLA to a .162 attack percentage in the second set, and dominated the third set, 25-13, to complete the sweep.
Sophomore setter Aidan Knipe's steady hands distributed 32 assists as he led the Beach offense to their seventh contest in which they hit .300 or higher. Knipe also added five digs and two blocks in the match.
Sophomore opposite Clarke Godbold came out swinging as he racked up a career-high 17 kills on a .571 attack percentage.
Also recording double digits was freshman outside hitter Alex Nikolov who finished the contest with 11 kills on a .400 attack percentage to go along with nine digs and two blocks.
Leading the Beach defensively was sophomore libero Mason Briggs who collected 10 digs for his fourth double-digit dig match of the season and the 14th of his career.
The first set was a back-and-forth affair to start. UCLA held a two-point lead (15-13) at the media timeout and held the lead 19-16, before the Beach went on a 4-0 run to take a 20-19 lead. After the Bruins evened the score at 20-all, Godbold knocked down a kill followed by a Spencer Olivier solo block to give LBSU a 22-20 edge. From there, the Beach sent it to set point and Shane Holdaway knocked a kill down to give the Beach the 25-23 victory.
UCLA started the second set leading 3-1, but Long Beach State again scored four-straight points as the Beach took a 10-9 lead thanks in part to an incredible dig from Briggs who, while laying on his back, passed the ball to Knipe who set up Nikolov for the kill as the crowd cheered.
With momentum on their side, Long Beach State rattled off three-straight points to open up a 20-14 advantage against UCLA. The Bruins managed to trim the Beach's lead down to one (23-22) as LBSU called a timeout. Following the break in action, Long Beach State came out and earned a 25-23 win as the Beach took a 2-0 set lead.
The third set was all Long Beach as the hosts kicked off the frame with a quick 3-0 lead and never looked back. LBSU led the entire set and cruised to a 25-13 victory to complete the set. The Beach hit .429 in the frame and knocked down 12 kills while posting a sideout percentage of 92%.
UCLA finished the match hitting .271 and was held to just 20 digs. Ido David led the way with nine kills, while Miles Partain concluded the match with 26 assists and eight digs.
The Beach and the Bruins will face off again next Friday, Feb. 19 at the John Wooden Center at 7 p.m.
LONG BEACH, Calif. – It was a battle of the top two teams in the country on Friday night inside the Walter Pyramid and the Beach showed they were No. 1 as Long Beach State swept No. 2 UCLA by set scores of 25-22, 25-23, 25-13.
The Beach (7-1) rolled passed the Bruins (7-2) in straight sets hitting .400 in the match while posting 7.0 total team blocks and 33 digs. The two rivals battled each other through 12 ties and two lead changes in the first set, before Long Beach State limited UCLA to a .162 attack percentage in the second set, and dominated the third set, 25-13, to complete the sweep.
Sophomore setter Aidan Knipe's steady hands distributed 32 assists as he led the Beach offense to their seventh contest in which they hit .300 or higher. Knipe also added five digs and two blocks in the match.
Sophomore opposite Clarke Godbold came out swinging as he racked up a career-high 17 kills on a .571 attack percentage.
Alex Nikolov fakes out the Bruins as he sets it up for Clakre Godbold! #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/9a556C5Rl4
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) February 12, 2022
Also recording double digits was freshman outside hitter Alex Nikolov who finished the contest with 11 kills on a .400 attack percentage to go along with nine digs and two blocks.
Leading the Beach defensively was sophomore libero Mason Briggs who collected 10 digs for his fourth double-digit dig match of the season and the 14th of his career.
The first set was a back-and-forth affair to start. UCLA held a two-point lead (15-13) at the media timeout and held the lead 19-16, before the Beach went on a 4-0 run to take a 20-19 lead. After the Bruins evened the score at 20-all, Godbold knocked down a kill followed by a Spencer Olivier solo block to give LBSU a 22-20 edge. From there, the Beach sent it to set point and Shane Holdaway knocked a kill down to give the Beach the 25-23 victory.
UCLA started the second set leading 3-1, but Long Beach State again scored four-straight points as the Beach took a 10-9 lead thanks in part to an incredible dig from Briggs who, while laying on his back, passed the ball to Knipe who set up Nikolov for the kill as the crowd cheered.
WHAT. A. DIG!!!! #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/g7LMu3Q26o
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) February 12, 2022
With momentum on their side, Long Beach State rattled off three-straight points to open up a 20-14 advantage against UCLA. The Bruins managed to trim the Beach's lead down to one (23-22) as LBSU called a timeout. Following the break in action, Long Beach State came out and earned a 25-23 win as the Beach took a 2-0 set lead.
The third set was all Long Beach as the hosts kicked off the frame with a quick 3-0 lead and never looked back. LBSU led the entire set and cruised to a 25-13 victory to complete the set. The Beach hit .429 in the frame and knocked down 12 kills while posting a sideout percentage of 92%.
UCLA finished the match hitting .271 and was held to just 20 digs. Ido David led the way with nine kills, while Miles Partain concluded the match with 26 assists and eight digs.
The Beach and the Bruins will face off again next Friday, Feb. 19 at the John Wooden Center at 7 p.m.
Listen to what @LBSUMVB Head Coach Alan Knipe, as well as Clarke Godbold and Grant Marocchi had to say after today's sweep of #2 UCLAhttps://t.co/muH074S3M6
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) February 12, 2022
Team Stats
UCLA
LBSU
Kills
34
40
Errors
11
10
Attempts
85
75
Hitting %
.271
.400
Points
40.5
51
Assists
32
36
Aces
2
4
Blocks
4.5
7
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
17
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
3
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
L
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
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