Friday, April 7
Northridge, Calif.
7:00 p.m.
Long Beach State University
17-3,6-1Big West
3
at
2
CSUN
12-12,1-6Big West
1
2
3
4
5
F
Long Beach St.
25
22
25
25
15
3
CSUN
27
25
17
21
9
2
No. 4 LBSU Completes Reverse Sweep Over No. 15 CSUN in Milestone Heavy Victory
4/7/2023 11:48:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
Clarke Godbold knocked down a career-high 32 kills, while Aidan Knipe recorded a career-best 66 assists on his way to registering his 2,000th career assist to lead Long Beach State
Box Score (PDF)
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – No. 4 Long Beach State rallied to defeat No. 15 CSUN in a gritty five-set reverse sweep [25-27, 22-25, 25-17, 25-21, 15-9] at Premier America Credit Union Arena on Friday night.
With the victory, the Beach (17-3, 6-1 Big West) extend their winning streak to five matches, while the Matadors (12-12, 1-6 Big West) drop their seventh-straight contest.
The Beach received several outstanding performances on the night with three double-doubles and a trio of career-highs. Leading the way for LBSU was junior opposite Clarke Godbold who recorded a whopping 32 kills becoming the first Long Beach State Men's Volleyball player to break the 30-kill plateau since 2010 when Dean Bittner dropped 30 in the MPSF Quarterfinals against Pepperdine on April 25.
In addition to recording 32 kills, Godbold hit .571 (32-4-49) in the match, while also contributing seven digs and one block assist.
Joining Godbold with a career-night was junior setter Aidan Knipe who distributed a career-high 66 assists on his way to reaching the 2,000 career assist plateau becoming just the 11th player in Long Beach State Men's Volleyball history to reach that milestone. Knipe was efficient as he led the Beach to a .384 attack percentage. If that weren't enough, Knipe contributed on all sides of the ball logging 10 digs for a double-double, while also chipping in three blocks and two kills.
Senior middle blocker Shane Holdaway finished the match with a career-best 14 kills on 18 swings, while committing just one error for a .722 attack percentage. He also put up three block assists in the match.
Senior outside hitter Spencer Olivier also recorded 14 kills on the night to go along with 12 digs for a double-double of his own.
Rounding out the Long Beach State double-double scorers was sophomore outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis who recorded 13 kills and 10 digs to go along with four assists.
Defensively, the Beach boasted four players who recorded double-figure digs led by junior libero Mason Briggs. Briggs finished the match with a season-high 18 digs, just one shy of his career-best.
The Beach and the Matadors went back and forth early in the match. The conference foes traded points and found themselves tied eight times throughout the set that would eventually go into overtime. A kill from Godbold evened the score at 22-all, and the Beach hit set point first, 24-22. However, CSUN wouldn't go away. The Matadors fought back and pushed it to set point twice before winning 27-25.
CSUN took a quick lead to start the second set, going up 6-2. However, a Long Beach State run of five-straight points would give the Beach a 7-6 edge. That would prove to be LBSU's final lead of the set as the Matadors used a pair of 3-0 runs to take a 13-10 lead forcing the Beach to call a timeout. Long Beach closed the gap and made it a one-point game (20-19) on a kill from Godbold, but the Matadors utilized a timeout to regroup. Following the break, CSUN came out and closed out the set, winning 25-22.
Trailing 2-0, Long Beach State came out determined in the third set as the Beach quickly took a 5-1 lead over the Matadors. LBSU never looked back as they led the entire set outhitting CSUN .571 to .071 and boasting an 82% sideout percentage. Back-to-back kills from Godbold gave the Beach a commanding 20-13 advantage as they cruised to a 25-17 lead.
The fourth set was a grueling battle between the two teams that saw 17 ties and six lead changes. Long Beach State hit .467 in the set and Godbold tallied seven kills on 13 swings with just one error to hit .462. Siapanis and Grant Marocchi each recorded four kills in the se. LBSU called a timeout with the score knotted at 21-all and came back on the court reenergized. Siapanis give the Beach a 22-21 lead which sparked a 4-0 run to close the set. Marocchi put the game away as LBSU won, 25-21, forcing a fifth set.
The final set was nailbiter to start. The Beach and the Matadors exchanged points early in the game. Long Beach State found themselves down 7-5 and called for a timeout. The Beach came out of the break and promptly went on a 7-0 run to break the game wide open as LBSU lead CSUN, 12-7. Long Beach State hit .812 (14-1-16) in the frame, the fourth-highest set hitting percentage in program history, as the Beach put the game and match away with a 15-9 victory.
CSUN had three double-figure scorers led by Kyle Hobus' 14 kills. Griffin Walters concluded the match with 13 kills, while Lorenzo Bertozzi added 10. Setter Donovan Constable dished out 38 assists as the Matadors hit .238 as a team. Defensively, Hobus led the backrow with seven digs, while tying for the team lead at the net with seven blocks along with Jackson Payne.
Long Beach State and CSUN will be back in action on Saturday, April 8 at the Walter Pyramid. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – No. 4 Long Beach State rallied to defeat No. 15 CSUN in a gritty five-set reverse sweep [25-27, 22-25, 25-17, 25-21, 15-9] at Premier America Credit Union Arena on Friday night.
With the victory, the Beach (17-3, 6-1 Big West) extend their winning streak to five matches, while the Matadors (12-12, 1-6 Big West) drop their seventh-straight contest.
The Beach received several outstanding performances on the night with three double-doubles and a trio of career-highs. Leading the way for LBSU was junior opposite Clarke Godbold who recorded a whopping 32 kills becoming the first Long Beach State Men's Volleyball player to break the 30-kill plateau since 2010 when Dean Bittner dropped 30 in the MPSF Quarterfinals against Pepperdine on April 25.
In addition to recording 32 kills, Godbold hit .571 (32-4-49) in the match, while also contributing seven digs and one block assist.
21! That's a new career-high for Clarke Godbold! #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/EKhlWACe62
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) April 8, 2023
Joining Godbold with a career-night was junior setter Aidan Knipe who distributed a career-high 66 assists on his way to reaching the 2,000 career assist plateau becoming just the 11th player in Long Beach State Men's Volleyball history to reach that milestone. Knipe was efficient as he led the Beach to a .384 attack percentage. If that weren't enough, Knipe contributed on all sides of the ball logging 10 digs for a double-double, while also chipping in three blocks and two kills.
21! That's a new career-high for Clarke Godbold! #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/EKhlWACe62
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) April 8, 2023
Senior middle blocker Shane Holdaway finished the match with a career-best 14 kills on 18 swings, while committing just one error for a .722 attack percentage. He also put up three block assists in the match.
Senior outside hitter Spencer Olivier also recorded 14 kills on the night to go along with 12 digs for a double-double of his own.
Rounding out the Long Beach State double-double scorers was sophomore outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis who recorded 13 kills and 10 digs to go along with four assists.
Defensively, the Beach boasted four players who recorded double-figure digs led by junior libero Mason Briggs. Briggs finished the match with a season-high 18 digs, just one shy of his career-best.
The Beach and the Matadors went back and forth early in the match. The conference foes traded points and found themselves tied eight times throughout the set that would eventually go into overtime. A kill from Godbold evened the score at 22-all, and the Beach hit set point first, 24-22. However, CSUN wouldn't go away. The Matadors fought back and pushed it to set point twice before winning 27-25.
CSUN took a quick lead to start the second set, going up 6-2. However, a Long Beach State run of five-straight points would give the Beach a 7-6 edge. That would prove to be LBSU's final lead of the set as the Matadors used a pair of 3-0 runs to take a 13-10 lead forcing the Beach to call a timeout. Long Beach closed the gap and made it a one-point game (20-19) on a kill from Godbold, but the Matadors utilized a timeout to regroup. Following the break, CSUN came out and closed out the set, winning 25-22.
Trailing 2-0, Long Beach State came out determined in the third set as the Beach quickly took a 5-1 lead over the Matadors. LBSU never looked back as they led the entire set outhitting CSUN .571 to .071 and boasting an 82% sideout percentage. Back-to-back kills from Godbold gave the Beach a commanding 20-13 advantage as they cruised to a 25-17 lead.
The fourth set was a grueling battle between the two teams that saw 17 ties and six lead changes. Long Beach State hit .467 in the set and Godbold tallied seven kills on 13 swings with just one error to hit .462. Siapanis and Grant Marocchi each recorded four kills in the se. LBSU called a timeout with the score knotted at 21-all and came back on the court reenergized. Siapanis give the Beach a 22-21 lead which sparked a 4-0 run to close the set. Marocchi put the game away as LBSU won, 25-21, forcing a fifth set.
The final set was nailbiter to start. The Beach and the Matadors exchanged points early in the game. Long Beach State found themselves down 7-5 and called for a timeout. The Beach came out of the break and promptly went on a 7-0 run to break the game wide open as LBSU lead CSUN, 12-7. Long Beach State hit .812 (14-1-16) in the frame, the fourth-highest set hitting percentage in program history, as the Beach put the game and match away with a 15-9 victory.
CSUN had three double-figure scorers led by Kyle Hobus' 14 kills. Griffin Walters concluded the match with 13 kills, while Lorenzo Bertozzi added 10. Setter Donovan Constable dished out 38 assists as the Matadors hit .238 as a team. Defensively, Hobus led the backrow with seven digs, while tying for the team lead at the net with seven blocks along with Jackson Payne.
Long Beach State and CSUN will be back in action on Saturday, April 8 at the Walter Pyramid. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
Team Stats
LBSU
CSUN
Kills
81
47
Errors
25
16
Attempts
146
130
Hitting %
.384
.238
Points
87.5
65
Assists
74
45
Aces
1
5
Blocks
5.5
13
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
32
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
14
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Kills
14
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
L
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
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/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's VolleyballOH
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