Friday, April 22
Manoa, Hawaii
7:30 PM
Long Beach State University
20-4,8-2Big West
3
vs
1
UC Irvine
11-16,3-7Big West
1
2
3
4
F
UC Irvine
25
23
19
27
1
Long Beach St.
22
25
25
29
3
Photo by: John Fajardo
Top-Seeded Long Beach State Defeats UC Irvine to Advance to Big West Tournament Championship Match
4/23/2022 12:06:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
Alex Nikolov recorded a career-high 28 kills, while Aidan Knipe led the Beach to a .412 attack percentage, and Mason Briggs anchored the defense with 16 digs
Box Score (PDF)
HONOLULU – Top-seed Long Beach State came into the Big West Tournament Semifinals and defeated No. 5 seed UC Irvine, 3-1 [22-25, 25-23, 25-19, 29-27], on Friday night at the Stan Sheriff Center to advance to the Championship Match.
With the victory, the Beach (20-4) will play the winner of the No. 2 seed Hawaii-No. 3 seed UC Santa Barbara match on Saturday, April 23 at 7 p.m. (HT) / 10 p.m. (PT).
UC Irvine concludes the season with an 11-16 overall record.
The Beach hit .412 in the match, marking the 18th time this season they have hit over .300. Piloting Long Beach State to their efficient attack percentage was sophomore setter Aidan Knipe who distributed 53 assists in the contest.
Leading the offensive attack for LBSU was freshman outside hitter Alex Nikolov who slammed a career-high 28 kills while hitting .558 in the match. Nikolov really heated up in the fourth set, knocking down 11 of his 28 kills in the final frame. In addition to his solid offensive effort, Nikolov also added four digs, two blocks, and two aces.
Joining Nikolov in double-figures was sophomore opposite Clarke Godbold who finished the night with 15 kills on a .400 attack percentage. Godbold also contributed five digs, one block, and one ace.
Sophomore libero Mason Briggs led the defense as he logged 16 digs in the match.
Long Beach State got off to a slow start to open the match as the Beach called an early timeout after falling behind the Anteaters, 6-2. From there, the Beach trailed until an ace from Nikolov tied the game at 18-all. However, UC Irvine managed to go back up and take the first set, 25-22.
Down 1-0, Long Beach State hit .545 in the second set, their highest offensive output of the night. LBSU led 10-7 after another Nikolov ace, but a 4-1 UCI run would even things up at 11-all. After trading points, the Beach took a 23-20 lead on back-to-back kills from Nikolov forcing a timeout by UCI. The Anteaters kept things interesting making it a one-point game (23-22), but after a Long Beach State timeout, the Beach came out of the break in action and won the set, 25-23, to even the match at 1-1.
The third set saw six ties as both team exchanged points back and forth. Down 16-15, Long Beach State brought Nathan Harlan in to serve. The sophomore outside hitter led the Beach to an 8-0 run which was highlighted by four kills from Nikolov as the Beach broke the game open, 21-16, before winning the set, 25-19 to go up 2-1.
Harlan proved to be the spark Long Beach State needed as he earned the start in the fourth set and helped lead LBSU with five kills, three digs, one ace, and a .333 attack percentage in the single set.
The Beach jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead, forcing the Anteaters to call an early timeout. Following the break in action, UC Irvine managed to pull within one (14-13), before tying the game 15-all. The Anteaters used a 3-0 run to go up 18-16 as LBSU took a timeout. Long Beach came out of the break and evened the score at 20-all on a kill from Nikolov. The Anteaters pushed it to set point, 24-23, but the Beach would not go away. The conference foes battled each other through five set points before Long Beach State earned the win, 29-27, and advance to the championship match.
Francesco Sani led UC Irvine with 21 kills on a .304 clip. He also added six digs, two blocks, and an ace. Hilir Henn also reached double-figures with 14 kills on a .423 attack percentage. Brian Garcia dished out 42 assists leading the Anteaters to a .367 attack percentage to go along with a team-best five blocks, while Cole Power recorded 12 digs in the back row.
HONOLULU – Top-seed Long Beach State came into the Big West Tournament Semifinals and defeated No. 5 seed UC Irvine, 3-1 [22-25, 25-23, 25-19, 29-27], on Friday night at the Stan Sheriff Center to advance to the Championship Match.
With the victory, the Beach (20-4) will play the winner of the No. 2 seed Hawaii-No. 3 seed UC Santa Barbara match on Saturday, April 23 at 7 p.m. (HT) / 10 p.m. (PT).
UC Irvine concludes the season with an 11-16 overall record.
The Beach hit .412 in the match, marking the 18th time this season they have hit over .300. Piloting Long Beach State to their efficient attack percentage was sophomore setter Aidan Knipe who distributed 53 assists in the contest.
Leading the offensive attack for LBSU was freshman outside hitter Alex Nikolov who slammed a career-high 28 kills while hitting .558 in the match. Nikolov really heated up in the fourth set, knocking down 11 of his 28 kills in the final frame. In addition to his solid offensive effort, Nikolov also added four digs, two blocks, and two aces.
Set 4 | Alex Nikolov has a new career-high 25 kills as @lbsumvb ties the game #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/Y7q6JYg5FS
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) April 23, 2022
Joining Nikolov in double-figures was sophomore opposite Clarke Godbold who finished the night with 15 kills on a .400 attack percentage. Godbold also contributed five digs, one block, and one ace.
Set 4 | And that's an ?? for the Birthday Boy, Clarke Godbold #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/jo0Vnw0WwJ
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) April 23, 2022
Sophomore libero Mason Briggs led the defense as he logged 16 digs in the match.
Long Beach State got off to a slow start to open the match as the Beach called an early timeout after falling behind the Anteaters, 6-2. From there, the Beach trailed until an ace from Nikolov tied the game at 18-all. However, UC Irvine managed to go back up and take the first set, 25-22.
Down 1-0, Long Beach State hit .545 in the second set, their highest offensive output of the night. LBSU led 10-7 after another Nikolov ace, but a 4-1 UCI run would even things up at 11-all. After trading points, the Beach took a 23-20 lead on back-to-back kills from Nikolov forcing a timeout by UCI. The Anteaters kept things interesting making it a one-point game (23-22), but after a Long Beach State timeout, the Beach came out of the break in action and won the set, 25-23, to even the match at 1-1.
The third set saw six ties as both team exchanged points back and forth. Down 16-15, Long Beach State brought Nathan Harlan in to serve. The sophomore outside hitter led the Beach to an 8-0 run which was highlighted by four kills from Nikolov as the Beach broke the game open, 21-16, before winning the set, 25-19 to go up 2-1.
Harlan proved to be the spark Long Beach State needed as he earned the start in the fourth set and helped lead LBSU with five kills, three digs, one ace, and a .333 attack percentage in the single set.
The Beach jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead, forcing the Anteaters to call an early timeout. Following the break in action, UC Irvine managed to pull within one (14-13), before tying the game 15-all. The Anteaters used a 3-0 run to go up 18-16 as LBSU took a timeout. Long Beach came out of the break and evened the score at 20-all on a kill from Nikolov. The Anteaters pushed it to set point, 24-23, but the Beach would not go away. The conference foes battled each other through five set points before Long Beach State earned the win, 29-27, and advance to the championship match.
Francesco Sani led UC Irvine with 21 kills on a .304 clip. He also added six digs, two blocks, and an ace. Hilir Henn also reached double-figures with 14 kills on a .423 attack percentage. Brian Garcia dished out 42 assists leading the Anteaters to a .367 attack percentage to go along with a team-best five blocks, while Cole Power recorded 12 digs in the back row.
Team Stats
Irvine
LBSU
Kills
58
63
Errors
14
14
Attempts
120
119
Hitting %
.367
.412
Points
72.5
72.5
Assists
51
61
Aces
6
5
Blocks
8.5
4.5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
28
Aces
2
Blocks
2
Kills
15
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
L
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