No. 3 Long Beach State Puts an End to No. 4 Penn State’s Win-Streak in Four-Set Victory

Wednesday, January 25

University Park, Pa.

4:00 p.m.

Long Beach State University

5-0,0-0Big West

Penn State

6-1,0-0EIVA

Long Beach St.

Penn St.

Photo by: ©John Fajardo Photography

No. 3 Long Beach State Puts an End to No. 4 Penn State’s Win-Streak in Four-Set Victory

1/25/2023 7:42:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

Clarke Godbold tied his career-high with 17 kills and Simon Torwie tied his career-best with eight blocks in the win

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

Box Score (PDF)

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Top 5 match-up between No. 3 Long Beach State and No. 4 Penn State pitted two undefeated teams against each other as the Beach went up against a Nittany Lions team that had not lost a regular season match inside Rec Hall since Feb. 14, 2021. On Wednesday night, however, Penn State's 21-match regular season home winning streak was snapped by a gritty Long Beach State team that claimed a 3-1 [18-25, 25-23, 26-24, 27-25] victory.

The win gave the Beach (5-0) their fifth consecutive win of the season, while handing the Nittany Lions (6-1) their first loss of 2023. The closely contested match saw Penn State out-hit LBSU (.295-.259), however, the Beach held the edge in kills (53-48), assists (49-47), and blocks (12.0-9.0).

Leading the way for Long Beach State was junior opposite Clarke Godbold who knocked down a career-high tying 17 kills, while hitting .286.
Godbold joined forces with junior middle blocker Simon Torwie at the net to help put up a solid blocking defense. Torwie patrolled the net tying his career-best with eight blocks, while Godbold added four, as did setter Aidan Knipe.

To go along with Knipe's four blocks, the junior from Huntington Beach, Calif., dished out 38 assists and six digs.

Joining Godbold in double-digits was redshirt senior outside hitter Spencer Olivier who tallied a season-high 14 kills as he hit .379 on the night, while also logging four digs, one block assist, and one service ace.

Junior libero Mason Briggs anchored the defense in the backcourt as he collected nine digs and picked up 20 errorless receptions. Sophomore outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis also added nine digs, while registering nine kills for the Beach.

Penn State took control early as the Nittany Lions took a quick 2-1 lead and never looked back. Long Beach State stayed competitive in the opening set, staying within striking distance, but the Nittany Lions pulled away and took the game, 25-18.

The second set saw the two teams battle it out as they fought each other through 11 ties and four lead changes. The evenly matched game came down to the wire as the Beach and the Nittany Lions found themselves deadlocked at 23-all. A PSU service error sent LBSU to set point, and the Beach capitalized as Olivier, Godbold, and Shane Holdaway put up a big triple block to secure the win, 25-23.

With the match tied at one set apiece, the competitiveness did not disappoint. Set three was just as much of a wild ride as set two as Long Beach and Penn State exchanged leads five times, while breaking eight ties. Once again, fans got a front row seat to the battle as the two teams were knotted at 23-all. This time, however, the Nittany Lions hit set point first, but a kill from Holdaway evened things up at 24-24. The Beach took advantage of a bad set by PSU, before Olivier closed things out with a kill, 26-24.

Long Beach State went into the fourth set leading two sets to one, determined to end things in four. But Penn State had its mind set on going the distance as the equally matched opponents went up against each other in another back-and-forth affair. Similarly, to the previous sets, the Beach and the Nittany Lions were deadlocked at 23-23. Penn State got to set point first, 24-23, but Long Beach State was quick to even things up on a kill from Holdaway (24-24). A kill from Olivier gave the Beach match point, but the Nittany Lions refused to go quietly, evening the game at 25-all. Olivier struck again sending LBSU to its second match point, 26-25. Long Beach State subbed in redshirt junior middle blocker Aidan Grosz who delivered a solid serve that ended in an Olivier kill as the Beach sealed the game with a 27-25 victory.

John Kerr led Penn State with 17 kills on a .382 clip, while Michal Kowal added 12 kills on .286 hitting. Cole Bogner recorded 43 assists, six digs, and four blocks, while Ryan Merk finished the match with nine digs.

Long Beach State will return home to the Walter Pyramid to host No. 11 Loyola Chicago on Friday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+.