Friday, March 17
Honolulu, Hawaii
10:00 p.m.
Long Beach State University
12-2,3-0Big West
3
at
0
Hawaii
17-2,0-1Big West
1
2
3
F
Long Beach St.
25
29
25
3
Hawaii
20
27
22
0
No. 4 Long Beach State Downs No. 1 Hawaii in Straight Sets on the Road
3/18/2023 2:03:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
The Beach hit an efficient .484 as Aidan Knipe dished out 43 assists and Sotiris Siapanis recorded a season-high 19 kills in the sweep
Box Score (PDF)
HONOLULU – The No. 4 Long Beach State Men's Volleyball team flexed its grit Friday night as the Beach took down top-ranked Hawaii, 3-0 [25-20, 29-27, 25-22] at SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The Beach (12-2, 3-0 Big West) hit an incredible .484 in the match and battled the Rainbow Warriors (17-2, 0-1 Big West), through 29 ties and six lead changes over three sets in front of a loud and electric crowd of more than 7,500.
Junior setter Aidan Knipe guided the Long Beach State offense to their 10th match in which they hit over .300 this season. With Knipe leading the way, the Beach have hit over .400 half a dozen times thus far. Tonight, Knipe distributed 43 assists, while adding five digs, and one block.
Knipe set up sophomore outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis 32 times and Siapanis capitalized knocking down 19 kills with just two errors to hit a hot .531.
Joining Siapanis in double figures was redshirt senior outside hitter Spencer Olivier who finished the match with 13 kills, while hitting .500 (13-1-24). Olivier also added four digs, two assists, a pair of aces, and two block assists.
While both outsides hit over .500, the middles were even more efficient. Senior Shane Holdaway led the offensive attack with a .778 attack percentage as he registered seven kills on nine errorless swings. Meanwhile, Simon Torwie concluded the match with a .727 clip as he posted eight kills on 11 attacks without committing an error.
Torwie also led the blocking defense with four blocks, as junior opposite Clarke Godbold contributed three blocks to go along with a season-best eight digs.
The exciting contest began as a back-and-forth affair as the conference foes traded points early on. The Beach took a 14-12 edge after a Hawaii service error, followed by a kill from Siapanis and an ace from Olivier. However, the Bows managed to even the score at 14-all, before Long Beach State went up for good, 17-15, on a kill by Torwie and a solo block from Godbold. The Beach held the edge the rest of the way before winning, 25-20.
The second set was a wild one that saw 16 ties, three lead changes, and five set points, before the Beach downed the Bows in overtime, 29-27. Long Beach State hit an impressive .568 in the second game, knocking down 23 kills, while committing just two errors. In fact, the Beach only committed three errors in the first two sets combined. After Hawaii pushed it to the fourth set point, 27-26, the Beach came back and closed the frame with three-straight points to win, 29-27, on an ace from Holdaway.
Leading two sets to none, Long Beach State used a 6-1 run to take a 9-6 advantage forcing Hawaii to call a timeout. The break in action did not stop the Beach. They grinded out another 4-1 run to extend their lead to five (13-8), before taking a 15-9 lead at the media timeout on a kill from Olivier. With things going LBSU's way, Hawaii rattled off four-straight points to make it a one-point contest (16-15), before tying the game at 18-all. The Beach showed their grit and scored three-points in a row to go back up by three (21-18) as UH called for a timeout. Long Beach State pushed the game to match point (24-20), before Olivier ended the set and completed the sweep with his 13th kill of the night.
The straight-set victory marked the first time in three years since Hawaii was swept at the Stan Sheriff Center. In 2020, the then-No. 1 Bows dropped a three-setter to then-No. 2 BYU on March 5 on the Islands.
Hawaii was led by Dimitrios Mouchlias who finished with 15 kills on a .312 attack percentage. Chaz Galloway added 10 kills and seven digs, while Jakob Thelle passed out 41 assists.
Long Beach State and Hawaii will face each other again on Saturday, March 18 at SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and on Spectrum Sports.
HONOLULU – The No. 4 Long Beach State Men's Volleyball team flexed its grit Friday night as the Beach took down top-ranked Hawaii, 3-0 [25-20, 29-27, 25-22] at SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The Beach (12-2, 3-0 Big West) hit an incredible .484 in the match and battled the Rainbow Warriors (17-2, 0-1 Big West), through 29 ties and six lead changes over three sets in front of a loud and electric crowd of more than 7,500.
Junior setter Aidan Knipe guided the Long Beach State offense to their 10th match in which they hit over .300 this season. With Knipe leading the way, the Beach have hit over .400 half a dozen times thus far. Tonight, Knipe distributed 43 assists, while adding five digs, and one block.
Knipe set up sophomore outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis 32 times and Siapanis capitalized knocking down 19 kills with just two errors to hit a hot .531.
Joining Siapanis in double figures was redshirt senior outside hitter Spencer Olivier who finished the match with 13 kills, while hitting .500 (13-1-24). Olivier also added four digs, two assists, a pair of aces, and two block assists.
Sotos with the kill!!! #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/Ze944eeDoe
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) March 18, 2023
While both outsides hit over .500, the middles were even more efficient. Senior Shane Holdaway led the offensive attack with a .778 attack percentage as he registered seven kills on nine errorless swings. Meanwhile, Simon Torwie concluded the match with a .727 clip as he posted eight kills on 11 attacks without committing an error.
Torwie also led the blocking defense with four blocks, as junior opposite Clarke Godbold contributed three blocks to go along with a season-best eight digs.
The exciting contest began as a back-and-forth affair as the conference foes traded points early on. The Beach took a 14-12 edge after a Hawaii service error, followed by a kill from Siapanis and an ace from Olivier. However, the Bows managed to even the score at 14-all, before Long Beach State went up for good, 17-15, on a kill by Torwie and a solo block from Godbold. The Beach held the edge the rest of the way before winning, 25-20.
The second set was a wild one that saw 16 ties, three lead changes, and five set points, before the Beach downed the Bows in overtime, 29-27. Long Beach State hit an impressive .568 in the second game, knocking down 23 kills, while committing just two errors. In fact, the Beach only committed three errors in the first two sets combined. After Hawaii pushed it to the fourth set point, 27-26, the Beach came back and closed the frame with three-straight points to win, 29-27, on an ace from Holdaway.
Leading two sets to none, Long Beach State used a 6-1 run to take a 9-6 advantage forcing Hawaii to call a timeout. The break in action did not stop the Beach. They grinded out another 4-1 run to extend their lead to five (13-8), before taking a 15-9 lead at the media timeout on a kill from Olivier. With things going LBSU's way, Hawaii rattled off four-straight points to make it a one-point contest (16-15), before tying the game at 18-all. The Beach showed their grit and scored three-points in a row to go back up by three (21-18) as UH called for a timeout. Long Beach State pushed the game to match point (24-20), before Olivier ended the set and completed the sweep with his 13th kill of the night.
BEACH WIN!!! ??????@lbsumvb 3, Hawaii 0 pic.twitter.com/iOnSaxPYqy
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) March 18, 2023
The straight-set victory marked the first time in three years since Hawaii was swept at the Stan Sheriff Center. In 2020, the then-No. 1 Bows dropped a three-setter to then-No. 2 BYU on March 5 on the Islands.
Hawaii was led by Dimitrios Mouchlias who finished with 15 kills on a .312 attack percentage. Chaz Galloway added 10 kills and seven digs, while Jakob Thelle passed out 41 assists.
Long Beach State and Hawaii will face each other again on Saturday, March 18 at SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and on Spectrum Sports.
Team Stats
LBSU
Hawaii
Kills
52
43
Errors
7
16
Attempts
93
89
Hitting %
.484
.303
Points
63.5
51.5
Assists
50
43
Aces
4
5
Blocks
7.5
3.5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
19
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Kills
13
Aces
2
Blocks
2
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
7
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's VolleyballOPP
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