Friday, March 18
Long Beach, Calif.
7:00 PM
Long Beach State University
12-3,1-1Big West
3
vs
0
Concordia
9-9,2-4MPSF
1
2
3
F
CUI
20
17
25
0
Long Beach St.
25
25
27
3
Photo by: John Fajardo
No. 3 Long Beach State Sweeps Concordia in Non-Conference Action
3/18/2022 10:23:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
Alex Nikolov and Aidan Knipe both recorded double-doubles in the win
Box Score (PDF) | Photo Gallery
LONG BEACH, Calif. – The No. 3 Long Beach State Men's Volleyball team had a strong serve and pass game as the Beach rolled to a straight set win, 3-0 [25-20, 25-17. 27-25], over Concordia on Friday evening at the Walter Pyramid.
The Beach (12-3) and the Eagles (9-9) faced off in a non-conference contest which saw Long Beach State serve up eight aces, five of which came in the second set, while hitting .320 and racking up 42 digs, and posting 7.0 blocks. Concordia, meanwhile, hit .221, with 4.0 blocks, and registered just one ace with nine service errors.
Sophomore setter Aidan Knipe paced Long Beach with 42 assists, while adding 10 digs for his first collegiate double-double. Alex Nikolov also recorded a double-double, the first of his collegiate career, as he finished the match with 14 kills and 11 digs. His 11 digs mark a new career-high for the freshman outside hitter, while his five service aces tie his career-best.
Leading the Beach with 16 kills on a .556 attack percentage was junior outside hitter Spencer Olivier who also contributed four digs, one block, and one assist.
On the defensive end, Mason Briggs held down the backcourt with six digs, while logging 17 errorless receptions. Overall, the Beach was solid committing just one reception error in the match.
Redshirt senior Marc Moody earned the start at middle blocker and posted four blocks, while Nikolov added three.
The Beach and the Eagles traded points early on in the first set, but LBSU used a 5-1 run highlighted by back-to-back kills by Nikolov to jump out in front of Concordia. Once up 10-8 after an ace from Nikolov, Long Beach State remained on top the rest of the way before putting the game away, 25-20.
The second set saw Long Beach State tally five aces, 3-straight which came from Nikolov, as the Beach controlled much of the frame with two separate 4-0 scoring runs. Olivier was hot in the set with five kills on a .571 clip, while Shane Holdaway, who had two aces in the set, put the game away with an ace, 25-18.
Leading two sets to none, Long Beach State took a quick 7-4 lead after three-straight kills from Moody, Olivier, and Nikolov. The Beach continued to surge ahead as they held a 23-19 lead after a solo block from Moody. However, Concordia was not ready to give up as the Eagles rattled off five-straight points to push it to set point, 24-23. A kill from Godbold ended CUI's run as the Beach evened things up at 24-all. Godbold struck again to tie things up at 25-25 as Concordia called for a timeout. Following the break in action, Nikolov knocked down back-to-back kills to complete the sweep.
Concordia's Erik Boisvery led the way with 11 kills on a .360 hitting percentage, to go along with seven digs and CUI's lone service ace. Setter Makai Lipson finished the match with 22 assists, while Gil Herold added three blocks.
Long Beach State resumes Big West Conference action on Friday, March 25 as they host No. 6 UC Santa Barbara. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+.
LONG BEACH, Calif. – The No. 3 Long Beach State Men's Volleyball team had a strong serve and pass game as the Beach rolled to a straight set win, 3-0 [25-20, 25-17. 27-25], over Concordia on Friday evening at the Walter Pyramid.
The Beach (12-3) and the Eagles (9-9) faced off in a non-conference contest which saw Long Beach State serve up eight aces, five of which came in the second set, while hitting .320 and racking up 42 digs, and posting 7.0 blocks. Concordia, meanwhile, hit .221, with 4.0 blocks, and registered just one ace with nine service errors.
Sophomore setter Aidan Knipe paced Long Beach with 42 assists, while adding 10 digs for his first collegiate double-double. Alex Nikolov also recorded a double-double, the first of his collegiate career, as he finished the match with 14 kills and 11 digs. His 11 digs mark a new career-high for the freshman outside hitter, while his five service aces tie his career-best.
Leading the Beach with 16 kills on a .556 attack percentage was junior outside hitter Spencer Olivier who also contributed four digs, one block, and one assist.
On the defensive end, Mason Briggs held down the backcourt with six digs, while logging 17 errorless receptions. Overall, the Beach was solid committing just one reception error in the match.
Redshirt senior Marc Moody earned the start at middle blocker and posted four blocks, while Nikolov added three.
The Beach and the Eagles traded points early on in the first set, but LBSU used a 5-1 run highlighted by back-to-back kills by Nikolov to jump out in front of Concordia. Once up 10-8 after an ace from Nikolov, Long Beach State remained on top the rest of the way before putting the game away, 25-20.
The second set saw Long Beach State tally five aces, 3-straight which came from Nikolov, as the Beach controlled much of the frame with two separate 4-0 scoring runs. Olivier was hot in the set with five kills on a .571 clip, while Shane Holdaway, who had two aces in the set, put the game away with an ace, 25-18.
Shane Holdway's ace ?? gives @lbsumvb a 25-17 win over Concordia in the second set. The Beach leads 2 sets to none #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/Z2UrtMGb22
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) March 19, 2022
Leading two sets to none, Long Beach State took a quick 7-4 lead after three-straight kills from Moody, Olivier, and Nikolov. The Beach continued to surge ahead as they held a 23-19 lead after a solo block from Moody. However, Concordia was not ready to give up as the Eagles rattled off five-straight points to push it to set point, 24-23. A kill from Godbold ended CUI's run as the Beach evened things up at 24-all. Godbold struck again to tie things up at 25-25 as Concordia called for a timeout. Following the break in action, Nikolov knocked down back-to-back kills to complete the sweep.
And that's a SWEEP from the Mid! @lbsumvb defeats Concordia in 3 #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/XT4AEUxEA5
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) March 19, 2022
Concordia's Erik Boisvery led the way with 11 kills on a .360 hitting percentage, to go along with seven digs and CUI's lone service ace. Setter Makai Lipson finished the match with 22 assists, while Gil Herold added three blocks.
Long Beach State resumes Big West Conference action on Friday, March 25 as they host No. 6 UC Santa Barbara. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Team Stats
CUI
LBSU
Kills
33
47
Errors
13
15
Attempts
104
100
Hitting %
.192
.320
Points
38
62
Assists
34
46
Aces
1
8
Blocks
4
7
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
16
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
14
Aces
5
Blocks
3
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
5
Aces
2
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
L
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
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