Friday, February 17
Long Beach, Calif.
7:00 p.m.
Long Beach State University
7-2,0-0Big West
3
vs
0
NJIT
5-6,1-0EIVA
1
2
3
F
NJIT
15
19
24
0
Long Beach St.
25
25
26
3
Photo by: Stephanie Hang, @TheStephHang
No. 4 Beach Men’s Volleyball Sweeps NJIT
2/17/2023 10:16:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
Long Beach State hits .421 in the match and puts up 13.5 blocks in straight set wins
Box Score (PDF)
LONG BEACH, Calif. – The No. 4 Long Beach State Men's Volleyball team was firing on all cylinders on Friday night as the Beach downed NJIT in straight sets [25-15, 25-19, 26-24] at the Walter Pyramid.
LBSU (7-2) hit .421 and put up 13.5 total team blocks against NJIT (5-6). The Beach hit over .360 in each set and led the Highlanders in every statistical category, while siding out at a high percentage in each game.
Redshirt junior Aidan Knipe did a solid job distributing the ball as he logged 26 assists to go along with four digs, and one block assist. Knipe's pin hitters were on-point all night as Sotiris Siapanis and Spencer Olivier led the offensive attack with 11 kills each. Meanwhile Simon Torwie and Clarke Godbold added seven and six kills, respectively.
Siapanis hit an impressive .526 (11-1-19) to lead the Beach, while also adding seven digs, five block assists, and an ace. The product out of Limassol, Cyprus was solid at the serving line as he led the Beach on several scoring runs throughout the match.
Torwie led the blocking defense as he tied his career-high with eight total blocks, putting up a solo stop and seven block assists on the night. The 6-foot-10 Torwie was efficient on both sides of the ball as he hit .462 (7-1-13) in the match.
Long Beach State opened the match strong as the Beach hit .462 in the first set, while limiting the Highlanders to a .077 clip. LBSU used several small scoring runs to take a 13-7 lead forcing an NJIT timeout. With the game going the Beach's way, Long Beach pushed it to set point (24-14) on a Siapanis serving run, before Torwie finished the set off with a kill, 25-15.
After NJIT took a quick 3-1 lead to start the second set, Godbold went to the service line and led the Beach on a 4-0 run as LBSU took a 6-4 edge over the Highlanders. From there, the Beach extended their lead up to four (13-9) after a kill from Olivier. The Highlanders battled back making it a two-point game (20-18). But Long Beach State surged ahead as the Beach closed the set on a 5-1 run, winning 25-19.
The third set was a competitive battle between two good teams that saw 12 ties and four lead changes. Both teams went on scoring runs throughout the set. Down 19-18, Long Beach State called Nathan Harlan in and Harlan led the Beach to a 21-19 lead highlighted by an ace serve forcing an NJIT timeout. From there, the Beach pushed the game to match point, 24-22, after a kill from Godbold. But the Highlanders weren't done yet. NJIT scored back-to-back points to even the score at 24-all as LBSU utilized a timeout. The Beach came out of the break in action and Calvin Sanborn checked in to serve. After a solid serve from Sanborn, Shane Holdaway finished off the set and match with a kill to give Long Beach the overtime win, 26-24.
NJIT was led by Alessandro Negri's 17 kills on a .324 attack percentage (17-6-34). He also led the Highlanders with six digs to go along with an ace. Roque Nido finished the match with 24 assists and five digs as the Highlanders hit .192 in the contest.
Long Beach State and NJIT will face off again on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 7:30 p.m. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
LONG BEACH, Calif. – The No. 4 Long Beach State Men's Volleyball team was firing on all cylinders on Friday night as the Beach downed NJIT in straight sets [25-15, 25-19, 26-24] at the Walter Pyramid.
LBSU (7-2) hit .421 and put up 13.5 total team blocks against NJIT (5-6). The Beach hit over .360 in each set and led the Highlanders in every statistical category, while siding out at a high percentage in each game.
Redshirt junior Aidan Knipe did a solid job distributing the ball as he logged 26 assists to go along with four digs, and one block assist. Knipe's pin hitters were on-point all night as Sotiris Siapanis and Spencer Olivier led the offensive attack with 11 kills each. Meanwhile Simon Torwie and Clarke Godbold added seven and six kills, respectively.
Siapanis hit an impressive .526 (11-1-19) to lead the Beach, while also adding seven digs, five block assists, and an ace. The product out of Limassol, Cyprus was solid at the serving line as he led the Beach on several scoring runs throughout the match.
Torwie led the blocking defense as he tied his career-high with eight total blocks, putting up a solo stop and seven block assists on the night. The 6-foot-10 Torwie was efficient on both sides of the ball as he hit .462 (7-1-13) in the match.
Long Beach State opened the match strong as the Beach hit .462 in the first set, while limiting the Highlanders to a .077 clip. LBSU used several small scoring runs to take a 13-7 lead forcing an NJIT timeout. With the game going the Beach's way, Long Beach pushed it to set point (24-14) on a Siapanis serving run, before Torwie finished the set off with a kill, 25-15.
After NJIT took a quick 3-1 lead to start the second set, Godbold went to the service line and led the Beach on a 4-0 run as LBSU took a 6-4 edge over the Highlanders. From there, the Beach extended their lead up to four (13-9) after a kill from Olivier. The Highlanders battled back making it a two-point game (20-18). But Long Beach State surged ahead as the Beach closed the set on a 5-1 run, winning 25-19.
ROOF!!! Shane Holdaway and Clarke Godbold get the stop to give the Beach the win! #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/g2X5Ut6BHq
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) February 18, 2023
The third set was a competitive battle between two good teams that saw 12 ties and four lead changes. Both teams went on scoring runs throughout the set. Down 19-18, Long Beach State called Nathan Harlan in and Harlan led the Beach to a 21-19 lead highlighted by an ace serve forcing an NJIT timeout. From there, the Beach pushed the game to match point, 24-22, after a kill from Godbold. But the Highlanders weren't done yet. NJIT scored back-to-back points to even the score at 24-all as LBSU utilized a timeout. The Beach came out of the break in action and Calvin Sanborn checked in to serve. After a solid serve from Sanborn, Shane Holdaway finished off the set and match with a kill to give Long Beach the overtime win, 26-24.
NJIT was led by Alessandro Negri's 17 kills on a .324 attack percentage (17-6-34). He also led the Highlanders with six digs to go along with an ace. Roque Nido finished the match with 24 assists and five digs as the Highlanders hit .192 in the contest.
Long Beach State and NJIT will face off again on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 7:30 p.m. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
Team Stats
NJIT
LBSU
Kills
31
38
Errors
16
6
Attempts
78
76
Hitting %
.192
.421
Points
38
55.5
Assists
30
34
Aces
4
4
Blocks
3
13.5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
11
Aces
1
Blocks
5
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
8
Kills
6
Aces
1
Blocks
5
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
OH/OPP
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's VolleyballOPP
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