Friday, February 10
Long Beach, Calif.
7:00 p.m.
Long Beach State University
6-2,0-0Big West
1
vs
3
UCLA
11-1,0-0MPSF
1
2
3
4
F
UCLA
18
25
25
25
3
Long Beach St.
25
21
23
23
1
Photo by: John Fajardo
No. 2 Long Beach State Drops Four Set Decision to No. 4 UCLA
2/10/2023 11:32:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
Four LBSU players record season-highs as the Beach hit .333 in the setback
Box Score (PDF) | Photo Gallery
LONG BEACH, Calif. – The No. 2 Long Beach State Men's Volleyball team took on No. 4 UCLA on Friday night in the Walter Pyramid in front of a sellout crowd but came up on the wrong end of competitive 3-1 [25-18, 21-25, 23-25, 23-25] setback.
The Beach (6-2) turned in a solid showing as they outhit the Bruins (11-1) .333 to .276, and held the edge in kills (57-43), assists (55-41), and digs (27-21). However, UCLA put up 11.0 blocks to Long Beach State's 8.5, while serving up six aces to the Beach's three against 21 service errors.
The crowd of 4,138 marked the third largest in LBSU Men's Volleyball history and was the first sellout for the program since 2019. Despite the loss, the match did not disappoint as fans were treated to four sets of competitive volleyball between two Top 5 teams that battled each other through 29 ties and nine lead changes as the two final sets came down to the wire as deuce set wins.
Long Beach State had four players record season-highs, four players reach double-digit kills, and Mason Briggs was excellent as he came up one assist shy of a double-double.
Briggs, a junior libero, would finish the match with a season-high 13 digs and nine assists, while collecting 12 errorless receptions to lead the defense.
Also recording season-highs on the night were Sotiris Siapanis, Spencer Olivier, and Shane Holdaway. Siapanis, a sophomore outside hitter, led the offensive attack with a season-best 17 kills, while hitting .273 to go along with four digs. Redshirt senior outside hitter Olivier knocked down a season-high 14 kills on a .407 attack percentage, while adding three blocks and two digs. Holdaway also tallied a season-high in kills with 10 as the redshirt senior middle blocker hit .500 (10-2-16).
Rounding out the Beach's double-figure scorers was junior outside hitter Clarke Godbold who finished with 10 kills to mark the 26th double-digit output of his career. Godbold was efficient on both sides of the ball putting up six blocks, while adding one digs, one assist, and one ace.
Joining Godbold with a big game at the net was junior middle blocker Simon Torwie who posted six blocks. The 6-foot-10 Torwie helped out offensively as he contributed six kills on a ,400 clip (6-2-10).
Junior setter Aidan Knipe piloted the Beach to their fifth match of the season in which they hit over .300 as he distributed 45 assists, while picking up four digs, one block assist, and an ace.
The Beach started the match off hot as they hit .517 (18-3-29) in the first set and held the Bruins to a .167 (7-3-24) attack percentage. Long Beach State broke a 10-10 tie and went up 13-10 on back-to-back kills from Siapanis to take the lead for good. The Beach used several small scoring runs to hold off the Bruins and take the first set, 25-18.
The second set saw both teams hit over .400 as they went back-and-forth before UCLA used a 5-0 run to jump out in front, 19-15, forcing a Long Beach State timeout. The Beach managed to cut the Bruins' lead down to two (22-20) after a block from Godbold and Torwie, but UCLA pushed ahead and claimed the second set, 25-21.
Long Beach State opened the third set on a 4-0 run highlighted by three-consecutive triple blocks from Olivier, Torwie, and Godbold to force UCLA into utilizing a timeout early in the set. Despite the strong start from LBSU, UCLA was able to chip away and the Bruins used several scoring runs of their own to take a 21-16 advantage. Down by five, the Beach went on a 7-1 run, highlighted by an ace from Calvin Sanborn, to take a 23-22 lead over UCLA. But the Bruins were not ready to quit as they finished the set with three-straight points to win, 25-23, and take a 2-1 set lead.
The fourth set went down to the wire as the Beach and Bruins traded leads three times and fought through nine ties which culminated in a 22-22 score. With the match on the line, Godbold put the Beach up 23-22 with a kill, but UCLA would, once again, tally three-straight points to close out the set and match, 25-23.
The Bruins had three double-figure scorers in Ethan Champlin (12 kills), Alex Knight (11 kills), and Merrick McHenry (10 kills). Setter Andrew Rowan dished out 37 assists, while libero Troy Gooch finished with nine digs. McHenry also added five blocks, while leading UCLA with a .467 attack percentage (10-3-15).
Long Beach State looks to get back on the winning track next week when they host NJIT on Friday, Feb. 17 and Saturday, Feb. 18. Friday's match will begin at 7 p.m. Saturday's 7:30 p.m., contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
LONG BEACH, Calif. – The No. 2 Long Beach State Men's Volleyball team took on No. 4 UCLA on Friday night in the Walter Pyramid in front of a sellout crowd but came up on the wrong end of competitive 3-1 [25-18, 21-25, 23-25, 23-25] setback.
The Beach (6-2) turned in a solid showing as they outhit the Bruins (11-1) .333 to .276, and held the edge in kills (57-43), assists (55-41), and digs (27-21). However, UCLA put up 11.0 blocks to Long Beach State's 8.5, while serving up six aces to the Beach's three against 21 service errors.
The crowd of 4,138 marked the third largest in LBSU Men's Volleyball history and was the first sellout for the program since 2019. Despite the loss, the match did not disappoint as fans were treated to four sets of competitive volleyball between two Top 5 teams that battled each other through 29 ties and nine lead changes as the two final sets came down to the wire as deuce set wins.
Long Beach State had four players record season-highs, four players reach double-digit kills, and Mason Briggs was excellent as he came up one assist shy of a double-double.
Briggs, a junior libero, would finish the match with a season-high 13 digs and nine assists, while collecting 12 errorless receptions to lead the defense.
Also recording season-highs on the night were Sotiris Siapanis, Spencer Olivier, and Shane Holdaway. Siapanis, a sophomore outside hitter, led the offensive attack with a season-best 17 kills, while hitting .273 to go along with four digs. Redshirt senior outside hitter Olivier knocked down a season-high 14 kills on a .407 attack percentage, while adding three blocks and two digs. Holdaway also tallied a season-high in kills with 10 as the redshirt senior middle blocker hit .500 (10-2-16).
Rounding out the Beach's double-figure scorers was junior outside hitter Clarke Godbold who finished with 10 kills to mark the 26th double-digit output of his career. Godbold was efficient on both sides of the ball putting up six blocks, while adding one digs, one assist, and one ace.
Joining Godbold with a big game at the net was junior middle blocker Simon Torwie who posted six blocks. The 6-foot-10 Torwie helped out offensively as he contributed six kills on a ,400 clip (6-2-10).
Junior setter Aidan Knipe piloted the Beach to their fifth match of the season in which they hit over .300 as he distributed 45 assists, while picking up four digs, one block assist, and an ace.
The Beach started the match off hot as they hit .517 (18-3-29) in the first set and held the Bruins to a .167 (7-3-24) attack percentage. Long Beach State broke a 10-10 tie and went up 13-10 on back-to-back kills from Siapanis to take the lead for good. The Beach used several small scoring runs to hold off the Bruins and take the first set, 25-18.
The second set saw both teams hit over .400 as they went back-and-forth before UCLA used a 5-0 run to jump out in front, 19-15, forcing a Long Beach State timeout. The Beach managed to cut the Bruins' lead down to two (22-20) after a block from Godbold and Torwie, but UCLA pushed ahead and claimed the second set, 25-21.
Long Beach State opened the third set on a 4-0 run highlighted by three-consecutive triple blocks from Olivier, Torwie, and Godbold to force UCLA into utilizing a timeout early in the set. Despite the strong start from LBSU, UCLA was able to chip away and the Bruins used several scoring runs of their own to take a 21-16 advantage. Down by five, the Beach went on a 7-1 run, highlighted by an ace from Calvin Sanborn, to take a 23-22 lead over UCLA. But the Bruins were not ready to quit as they finished the set with three-straight points to win, 25-23, and take a 2-1 set lead.
The fourth set went down to the wire as the Beach and Bruins traded leads three times and fought through nine ties which culminated in a 22-22 score. With the match on the line, Godbold put the Beach up 23-22 with a kill, but UCLA would, once again, tally three-straight points to close out the set and match, 25-23.
The Bruins had three double-figure scorers in Ethan Champlin (12 kills), Alex Knight (11 kills), and Merrick McHenry (10 kills). Setter Andrew Rowan dished out 37 assists, while libero Troy Gooch finished with nine digs. McHenry also added five blocks, while leading UCLA with a .467 attack percentage (10-3-15).
Long Beach State looks to get back on the winning track next week when they host NJIT on Friday, Feb. 17 and Saturday, Feb. 18. Friday's match will begin at 7 p.m. Saturday's 7:30 p.m., contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
Team Stats
UCLA
LBSU
Kills
43
57
Errors
16
21
Attempts
98
108
Hitting %
.276
.333
Points
60
68.5
Assists
41
55
Aces
6
3
Blocks
11
8.5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
17
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
14
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
10
Aces
1
Blocks
6
Players Mentioned
L
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
OH/OPP
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
OPP
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