Friday, April 8
Long Beach, Calif.
7:00 PM
Long Beach State University
17-3,6-1Big West
3
vs
0
UC San Diego
12-9,4-4Big West
1
2
3
F
UC San Diego
29
18
12
0
Long Beach St.
31
25
25
3
Photo by: John Fajardo
No. 2 Long Beach State Sweeps No. 10 UC San Diego
4/8/2022 10:06:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
The Beach hit .391 with 13.5 total team blocks, and seven aces in the straight set win
Box Score (PDF)
LONG BEACH, Calif. – The No. 2 Long Beach State Men's Volleyball team turned in a complete team effort on Friday night at the Walter Pyramid as the Beach dropped No. 10 UC San Diego, 3-0 [31-29, 25-18, 25-12] to extend their winning streak to seven.
The Beach (17-3 overall, 6-1 Big West) hit .391 in the contest, marking the 15th time this season LBSU has hit .300 or higher in a match. Long Beach State did a solid job on the serve receive game knocking down seven aces, while committing just one reception error. The Beach also dominated the Tritons (12-9 overall, 4-4 Big West) at the net posting 13.5 total team blocks to UCSD's 3.5.
Piloting Long Beach State to another efficient attack percentage was sophomore setter Aidan Knipe who distributed 31 assists on the night, while adding three blocks, and two digs. When hitting over .300 in a match, the Beach are 14-0 on the year.
Leading the offensive attack was freshman outside hitter Alex Nikolov who finished the match with 13 kills on 18 swings, while committing just one attack error to hit a career-high .667. Junior outside hitter Spencer Olivier also recorded double figures with 11 kills, while hitting .350.
Simon Torwie got the start in the middle along with redshirt senior Marc Moody and led the blocking defense with seven blocks, while Moody added five. Torwie also contributed a season-high eight kills, while hitting .545 in another solid performance for the 6-foot-10 sophomore.
Sophomore libero Mason Briggs held steady in the backcourt with a team-leading six digs while collecting 10 errorless receptions. In addition to leading the Beach offense, Nikolov also helped Briggs pace the backrow as the freshman outside picked up 30 receptions without committing an error.
The opening set was a close one that saw both teams battle each other through 20 ties and seven lead changes. UC San Diego hit set point (24-22) first, but Long Beach State fought back and tied the game up 24-all on a triple block from Torwie, Olivier, and Clarke Godbold. From there, the Tritons would take the game to set point seven times, but each time the Beach came back. Down 29-28, Long Beach State closed the set with three-straight points and won the first set on back-to-back kills from Nikolov, 31-29.
Following the exciting overtime win, the Beach used the momentum from the first set to tally three-straight points and take a 13-11 lead over the Tritons. Long Beach State would lead the rest of the way, but really broke the game open on a 6-0 run highlighted by a career-high three-consecutive service aces from Calvin Sanborn. With Sanborn leading the way, LBSU cruised to a 25-18 win taking a 2-0 set lead over the Tritons.
Long Beach State turned in its strongest showing of the night in the third set as the Beach hit .526 (13-3-19) in the frame and limited the Tritons to a mere .083 attack percentage (7-5-24). LBSU opened the set up 3-0 and never trailed. Long Beach State used a pair of 4-0 runs to extend its lead to nine (15-6) before breaking the game open with a 10-point advantage (21-11) after a kill from Nikolov. With everything clicking for the Beach, sophomore Nathan Harlan came in to serve and helped the Beach close the set and match on a 3-0 run as he ended the match with an ace.
UC San Diego's Kyle McCauley finished the match with nine kills, while setter Blake Crisp added 27 assists, and Wyatt Harrison collected five digs.
Long Beach State and UC San Diego will be back at it on Saturday, April 9 at 7 p.m. at RIMAC Arena in San Diego, Calif. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
LONG BEACH, Calif. – The No. 2 Long Beach State Men's Volleyball team turned in a complete team effort on Friday night at the Walter Pyramid as the Beach dropped No. 10 UC San Diego, 3-0 [31-29, 25-18, 25-12] to extend their winning streak to seven.
The Beach (17-3 overall, 6-1 Big West) hit .391 in the contest, marking the 15th time this season LBSU has hit .300 or higher in a match. Long Beach State did a solid job on the serve receive game knocking down seven aces, while committing just one reception error. The Beach also dominated the Tritons (12-9 overall, 4-4 Big West) at the net posting 13.5 total team blocks to UCSD's 3.5.
Simon Torwie with the block ?? #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/KYr4L8298I
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) April 9, 2022
Piloting Long Beach State to another efficient attack percentage was sophomore setter Aidan Knipe who distributed 31 assists on the night, while adding three blocks, and two digs. When hitting over .300 in a match, the Beach are 14-0 on the year.
Leading the offensive attack was freshman outside hitter Alex Nikolov who finished the match with 13 kills on 18 swings, while committing just one attack error to hit a career-high .667. Junior outside hitter Spencer Olivier also recorded double figures with 11 kills, while hitting .350.
Simon Torwie got the start in the middle along with redshirt senior Marc Moody and led the blocking defense with seven blocks, while Moody added five. Torwie also contributed a season-high eight kills, while hitting .545 in another solid performance for the 6-foot-10 sophomore.
Sophomore libero Mason Briggs held steady in the backcourt with a team-leading six digs while collecting 10 errorless receptions. In addition to leading the Beach offense, Nikolov also helped Briggs pace the backrow as the freshman outside picked up 30 receptions without committing an error.
The opening set was a close one that saw both teams battle each other through 20 ties and seven lead changes. UC San Diego hit set point (24-22) first, but Long Beach State fought back and tied the game up 24-all on a triple block from Torwie, Olivier, and Clarke Godbold. From there, the Tritons would take the game to set point seven times, but each time the Beach came back. Down 29-28, Long Beach State closed the set with three-straight points and won the first set on back-to-back kills from Nikolov, 31-29.
Following the exciting overtime win, the Beach used the momentum from the first set to tally three-straight points and take a 13-11 lead over the Tritons. Long Beach State would lead the rest of the way, but really broke the game open on a 6-0 run highlighted by a career-high three-consecutive service aces from Calvin Sanborn. With Sanborn leading the way, LBSU cruised to a 25-18 win taking a 2-0 set lead over the Tritons.
Three straight ?????? by Calvin Sanborn highlights a 6-0 @lbsumvb run as the Beach lead the Tritons, 22-13 #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/F7CJDwDThl
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) April 9, 2022
Long Beach State turned in its strongest showing of the night in the third set as the Beach hit .526 (13-3-19) in the frame and limited the Tritons to a mere .083 attack percentage (7-5-24). LBSU opened the set up 3-0 and never trailed. Long Beach State used a pair of 4-0 runs to extend its lead to nine (15-6) before breaking the game open with a 10-point advantage (21-11) after a kill from Nikolov. With everything clicking for the Beach, sophomore Nathan Harlan came in to serve and helped the Beach close the set and match on a 3-0 run as he ended the match with an ace.
UC San Diego's Kyle McCauley finished the match with nine kills, while setter Blake Crisp added 27 assists, and Wyatt Harrison collected five digs.
Long Beach State and UC San Diego will be back at it on Saturday, April 9 at 7 p.m. at RIMAC Arena in San Diego, Calif. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
Team Stats
UCSD
LBSU
Kills
33
38
Errors
16
12
Attempts
70
69
Hitting %
.243
.377
Points
37.5
58.5
Assists
31
35
Aces
1
7
Blocks
3.5
13.5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
12
Aces
1
Blocks
4
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
8
Aces
1
Blocks
7
Kills
6
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
L
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
OH/OPP
/ Men's VolleyballOPP
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