Friday, April 1
Long Beach, Calif.
7:00 PM
Long Beach State University
15-3,4-1Big West
3
vs
1
Hawaii
18-4,3-2Big West
1
2
3
4
F
Hawaii
25
23
24
25
1
Long Beach St.
22
25
26
27
3
Photo by: John Fajardo
No. 2 Long Beach State Wins Fifth Straight with 3-1 Win Over No. 4 Hawaii
4/1/2022 11:30:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
The Beach hit .324 in the match, while logging a season-high 63 kills and 42 digs to go along with 12.0 total team blocks in the victory
Box Score (PDF)
LONG BEACH, Calif. – It was a battle on the newly minted Bruce DD Mac Rae & Family Court inside the Walter Pyramid as the two top teams in the Big West went head-to-head on Friday night. No. 2 Long Beach State came out victorious as the Beach downed No. 4 Hawaii, 3-1 [22-25, 25-23, 26-24, 27-25] to extend their winning streak to five.
With the win, Long Beach State took sole possession of first place in the Big West Conference standings improving to 4-1 in league action and 15-3 overall. Meanwhile, Hawaii dropped to 18-4 on the year and 3-2 in conference.
Despite dropping the first set, 25-22, the Beach bounced back and won the next three as LBSU hit .324 in the match marking the 13th time this season the squad has hit over .300. Additionally Long Beach tied their season-highs in kills (63) and digs (42), while adding eight service aces and 12.0 total team blocks on the night.
Leading the way for LBSU was sophomore setter Aidan Knipe who dished out 52 assists as he fed the Big Three more than 100 sets in the match. The trio of Alex Nikolov, Spencer Olivier, and Clarke Godbold were phenomenal once again as they combined for 57 of the team's 63 kills. Nikolov led the way with 23, while Olivier added a season-best 21, and Godbold added 13. Each of them hit over .300 to lead the Beach's offensive attack.
The LBSU defense turned in a solid performance as well with sophomore libero Mason Briggs logging 17 digs in the back row. Briggs also picked up 28 receptions without committing an error in another flawless performance that saw the reigning Big West Defensive Player of the Week record his ninth double-digit dig showing of the year.
At the net, Godbold tied his career-high with eight blocks, while Shane Holdaway added four. Simon Torwie, Marc Moody, Nikolov, and Olivier each contributed three block assists to highlight Long Beach State's excellent blocking defense.
The competitive match saw the conference foe battle each other through 52 ties and 16 lead changes over four sets.
The opening frame had 11 ties before Hawaii broke a 21-21 tie on a kill from Chaz Galloway. From there, the Rainbow Warriors took a 23-21 edge, as LBSU called a timeout. However, the Beach were unable to come back as the Bows took the first set, 25-22.
Down one set to none, Long Beach State had their work cut out for them in the second set as the Beach and the Bows fought through 14 ties and five lead changes in the competitive contest. LBSU hit .429, their best output of the match, while Hawaii hit .375. The hard-fought battle found the Beach down 23-22, before Torwie came off the bench and slammed a kill which sparked LBSU as the hosts finished the game with three-straight points thanks to a kill, followed by an ace, from Nikolov.
With the match tied at one set apiece, the third set saw another epic battle with 13 ties and a set that would go into overtime. Long Beach State got a few big serves from Nathan Harlan who came off the bench and tallied back-to-back aces to give LBSU a 22-21 lead, forcing a Hawaii timeout. A kill from Nikolov sent the Beach to set point, but Hawaii would not go quietly as the Bows managed to even the score at 24-all. From there, Long Beach took advantage of a service error from Hawaii before winning the set on a block from Godbold and Torwie, 26-24.
Long Beach State went into the fourth set leading two sets to one looking to close the match out in four. However, Hawaii would not quit as the Beach would be forced to overtime yet again after battling the Bows through another 14 ties and six lead changes. The two teams continued go back and forth in another nail-biter that saw Hawaii reach set point first, 24-23. Back-to-back kills from Olivier gave LBSU match point, 25-24, but the Bows managed to tie it up (25-25). Nikolov broke the tie with a kill and Olivier gave the Beach the win, 27-25.
Hawaii was led by Galloway's 13 kills and nine digs. Setter Jakob Thelle added 35 assists and 11 digs for a double-double, while Brett Sheward led the backrow with 15 digs.
Long Beach State and Hawaii will go at it again on Saturday, April 2 at the Walter Pyramid. First serve is set for 7:30 p.m. on ESPNU.
LONG BEACH, Calif. – It was a battle on the newly minted Bruce DD Mac Rae & Family Court inside the Walter Pyramid as the two top teams in the Big West went head-to-head on Friday night. No. 2 Long Beach State came out victorious as the Beach downed No. 4 Hawaii, 3-1 [22-25, 25-23, 26-24, 27-25] to extend their winning streak to five.
With the win, Long Beach State took sole possession of first place in the Big West Conference standings improving to 4-1 in league action and 15-3 overall. Meanwhile, Hawaii dropped to 18-4 on the year and 3-2 in conference.
Despite dropping the first set, 25-22, the Beach bounced back and won the next three as LBSU hit .324 in the match marking the 13th time this season the squad has hit over .300. Additionally Long Beach tied their season-highs in kills (63) and digs (42), while adding eight service aces and 12.0 total team blocks on the night.
Leading the way for LBSU was sophomore setter Aidan Knipe who dished out 52 assists as he fed the Big Three more than 100 sets in the match. The trio of Alex Nikolov, Spencer Olivier, and Clarke Godbold were phenomenal once again as they combined for 57 of the team's 63 kills. Nikolov led the way with 23, while Olivier added a season-best 21, and Godbold added 13. Each of them hit over .300 to lead the Beach's offensive attack.
#2 @LBSUMVB defeats #4 Hawaii in four sets as Alex Nikolov and Spencer Olivier each record 20+ kills for the Beach #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/UCV5gILNdD
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) April 2, 2022
The LBSU defense turned in a solid performance as well with sophomore libero Mason Briggs logging 17 digs in the back row. Briggs also picked up 28 receptions without committing an error in another flawless performance that saw the reigning Big West Defensive Player of the Week record his ninth double-digit dig showing of the year.
At the net, Godbold tied his career-high with eight blocks, while Shane Holdaway added four. Simon Torwie, Marc Moody, Nikolov, and Olivier each contributed three block assists to highlight Long Beach State's excellent blocking defense.
The competitive match saw the conference foe battle each other through 52 ties and 16 lead changes over four sets.
The opening frame had 11 ties before Hawaii broke a 21-21 tie on a kill from Chaz Galloway. From there, the Rainbow Warriors took a 23-21 edge, as LBSU called a timeout. However, the Beach were unable to come back as the Bows took the first set, 25-22.
Down one set to none, Long Beach State had their work cut out for them in the second set as the Beach and the Bows fought through 14 ties and five lead changes in the competitive contest. LBSU hit .429, their best output of the match, while Hawaii hit .375. The hard-fought battle found the Beach down 23-22, before Torwie came off the bench and slammed a kill which sparked LBSU as the hosts finished the game with three-straight points thanks to a kill, followed by an ace, from Nikolov.
With the match tied at one set apiece, the third set saw another epic battle with 13 ties and a set that would go into overtime. Long Beach State got a few big serves from Nathan Harlan who came off the bench and tallied back-to-back aces to give LBSU a 22-21 lead, forcing a Hawaii timeout. A kill from Nikolov sent the Beach to set point, but Hawaii would not go quietly as the Bows managed to even the score at 24-all. From there, Long Beach took advantage of a service error from Hawaii before winning the set on a block from Godbold and Torwie, 26-24.
Nathan Harlan serves up back-to-back aces to put @lbsumvb up 22-21 #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/FOdi38PnVn
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) April 2, 2022
Long Beach State went into the fourth set leading two sets to one looking to close the match out in four. However, Hawaii would not quit as the Beach would be forced to overtime yet again after battling the Bows through another 14 ties and six lead changes. The two teams continued go back and forth in another nail-biter that saw Hawaii reach set point first, 24-23. Back-to-back kills from Olivier gave LBSU match point, 25-24, but the Bows managed to tie it up (25-25). Nikolov broke the tie with a kill and Olivier gave the Beach the win, 27-25.
Hawaii was led by Galloway's 13 kills and nine digs. Setter Jakob Thelle added 35 assists and 11 digs for a double-double, while Brett Sheward led the backrow with 15 digs.
Long Beach State and Hawaii will go at it again on Saturday, April 2 at the Walter Pyramid. First serve is set for 7:30 p.m. on ESPNU.
Watch the @LBSUMVB postgame press conference with Head Coach Alan Knipe, sophomore libero Mason Briggs, and junior outside hitter Spencer Olivier #gobeach https://t.co/1wWbaSXksz
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) April 2, 2022
Team Stats
Hawaii
LBSU
Kills
50
63
Errors
18
19
Attempts
121
136
Hitting %
.264
.324
Points
59.5
83
Assists
44
60
Aces
1
8
Blocks
8.5
12
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
23
Aces
3
Blocks
3
Kills
21
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
8
Kills
3
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Players Mentioned
L
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
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