Tuesday, May 2
Fairfax, Va.
2:00 p.m.
Long Beach State University
21-4,9-1Big West
3
vs
1
Grand Canyon
22-8,6-6MPSF
1
2
3
4
F
Grand Canyon
25
17
22
23
1
Long Beach St.
22
25
25
25
3
No. 4 Long Beach State Downs No. 6 Grand Canyon to Advance to the NCAA Final Four
5/2/2023 7:38:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
The Beach hit .339 as a team and posted 10.5 blocks in the victory
Box Score (PDF) | Photo Gallery
FAIRFAX, Va. – No. 4 Long Beach State was led by four double-figure scorers as they defeated No. 6 Grand Canyon, 3-1 [22-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-23], on Tuesday night at EagleBank Arena to advance to the NCAA Final Four.
The Beach (21-4) will make their 13th NCAA Semifinals appearance in program history and sixth in the last seven seasons. They will play No. 1 seed UCLA on Thursday, May 4 at 2 p.m. (PDT)/5 p.m. (EDT) at EagleBank Arena.
The Lopes, meanwhile, end their season with a 22-8 overall record.
After dropping the first set to GCU, Long Beach State bounced back and finished the match out-hitting the Lopes .339 to .258, while also leading Grand Canyon in kills (56-53), assists (53-52), digs (41-35), and blocks (10.5 – 6.5).
Junior setter Aidan Knipe led the Beach to their 15th match in which they hit higher than .300 as he distributed 48 assists, while adding six digs and one block assist.
Knipe's solid passing led to four players reaching double-figure kills as junior opposite Clarke Godbold led the way with 13. Sotiris Siapanis and Spencer Olivier each finished the match with 12 kills. Olivier notched a double-double as he also contributed 10 digs. Junior middle blocker Simon Torwie rounded out the players who scored in double-figures as he posted 10 kills on 11 errorless swings for an impressive .909 attack percentage.
Torwie was solid on both sides of the ball as he recorded eight block assists, two digs, and two aces to lead Long Beach State.
Also contributing on blocking defense were Godbold and Olivier as they chipped in five block assists each in their all-around showings.
Anchoring the backrow for LBSU was junior libero Mason Briggs who logged 13 digs for his 12th double-digit dig performance of the season. In addition, Briggs was perfect with 20 errorless receptions as he helped the Beach keep GCU's offense off balance.
Long Beach State opened the match up 4-1, but Grand Canyon was quick to counter. The Lopes used a 5-0 run to even the score at 11-all, forcing an LBSU timeout. The game went back-and-forth until GCU scored three-straight points to break a 20-20 tie and take a 23-20 advantage, before winning 25-22.
Down 1-0, Long Beach State came out swinging in the second set as the Beach out-hit Grand Canyon .368 to -.031. LBSU took an early 6-1 lead and never looked back. The Beach never trailed in the frame and cruised to a 25-17 victory to even the match at one set apiece.
As the two teams became more familiar with each other, the third set became more of a battle. GCU hit .370 in the frame, while LBSU hit .276. After the Beach went up 2-0, the Lopes turned things around and took a 5-4 edge. The Beach scored four-straight points highlighted by a pair of kills from Olivier to take a 10-7 lead as GCU called for a timeout. The game remained close with LBSU holding the lead, but GCU staying within striking distance. Long Beach State utilized a timeout after Grand Canyon made it a two-point game (23-21). Following the break, LBSU came out and put the game away, 25-22.
The fourth set was a back-and-forth affair that saw 10 ties and three lead changes. Grand Canyon took the game's first lead, 4-1, but Long Beach State chipped away and evened the game at 9-all on a kill from Olivier. The two teams continued to trade points and found themselves deadlocked at 21-21. Torwie gave the Beach a 22-21 edge, which sparked the Beach to take a 23-21 lead after a kill from Siapanis which forced a GCU timeout. The break didn't stop Torwie as he served up an ace to send it to match point, 24-21, as the Lopes utilized their second timeout. GCU would make it interesting (24-23), before Long Beach State put the set and match away on a kill from Siapanis to win, 25-23.
Grand Canyon's Camden Gianni led all scorers with 18 kills, while adding nine digs, and two aces. Jackson Hickman added 13 kills on a .321 clip, while Christian Janke contributed 10 kills, eight digs, three blocks, and an ace. Nicholas Slight dished out 49 assists to go along with six digs, while Rico Wardlow led the Lopes at the net with four blocks.
FAIRFAX, Va. – No. 4 Long Beach State was led by four double-figure scorers as they defeated No. 6 Grand Canyon, 3-1 [22-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-23], on Tuesday night at EagleBank Arena to advance to the NCAA Final Four.
The Beach (21-4) will make their 13th NCAA Semifinals appearance in program history and sixth in the last seven seasons. They will play No. 1 seed UCLA on Thursday, May 4 at 2 p.m. (PDT)/5 p.m. (EDT) at EagleBank Arena.
The Lopes, meanwhile, end their season with a 22-8 overall record.
After dropping the first set to GCU, Long Beach State bounced back and finished the match out-hitting the Lopes .339 to .258, while also leading Grand Canyon in kills (56-53), assists (53-52), digs (41-35), and blocks (10.5 – 6.5).
Junior setter Aidan Knipe led the Beach to their 15th match in which they hit higher than .300 as he distributed 48 assists, while adding six digs and one block assist.
Knipe's solid passing led to four players reaching double-figure kills as junior opposite Clarke Godbold led the way with 13. Sotiris Siapanis and Spencer Olivier each finished the match with 12 kills. Olivier notched a double-double as he also contributed 10 digs. Junior middle blocker Simon Torwie rounded out the players who scored in double-figures as he posted 10 kills on 11 errorless swings for an impressive .909 attack percentage.
Torwie was solid on both sides of the ball as he recorded eight block assists, two digs, and two aces to lead Long Beach State.
Simon Torwie goes BOOM!??#GoBeach pic.twitter.com/MLY6RxN7tZ
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) May 2, 2023
Also contributing on blocking defense were Godbold and Olivier as they chipped in five block assists each in their all-around showings.
Anchoring the backrow for LBSU was junior libero Mason Briggs who logged 13 digs for his 12th double-digit dig performance of the season. In addition, Briggs was perfect with 20 errorless receptions as he helped the Beach keep GCU's offense off balance.
Long Beach State opened the match up 4-1, but Grand Canyon was quick to counter. The Lopes used a 5-0 run to even the score at 11-all, forcing an LBSU timeout. The game went back-and-forth until GCU scored three-straight points to break a 20-20 tie and take a 23-20 advantage, before winning 25-22.
Down 1-0, Long Beach State came out swinging in the second set as the Beach out-hit Grand Canyon .368 to -.031. LBSU took an early 6-1 lead and never looked back. The Beach never trailed in the frame and cruised to a 25-17 victory to even the match at one set apiece.
As the two teams became more familiar with each other, the third set became more of a battle. GCU hit .370 in the frame, while LBSU hit .276. After the Beach went up 2-0, the Lopes turned things around and took a 5-4 edge. The Beach scored four-straight points highlighted by a pair of kills from Olivier to take a 10-7 lead as GCU called for a timeout. The game remained close with LBSU holding the lead, but GCU staying within striking distance. Long Beach State utilized a timeout after Grand Canyon made it a two-point game (23-21). Following the break, LBSU came out and put the game away, 25-22.
SPENNY! #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/ukKrEmDzXG
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) May 2, 2023
The fourth set was a back-and-forth affair that saw 10 ties and three lead changes. Grand Canyon took the game's first lead, 4-1, but Long Beach State chipped away and evened the game at 9-all on a kill from Olivier. The two teams continued to trade points and found themselves deadlocked at 21-21. Torwie gave the Beach a 22-21 edge, which sparked the Beach to take a 23-21 lead after a kill from Siapanis which forced a GCU timeout. The break didn't stop Torwie as he served up an ace to send it to match point, 24-21, as the Lopes utilized their second timeout. GCU would make it interesting (24-23), before Long Beach State put the set and match away on a kill from Siapanis to win, 25-23.
Grand Canyon's Camden Gianni led all scorers with 18 kills, while adding nine digs, and two aces. Jackson Hickman added 13 kills on a .321 clip, while Christian Janke contributed 10 kills, eight digs, three blocks, and an ace. Nicholas Slight dished out 49 assists to go along with six digs, while Rico Wardlow led the Lopes at the net with four blocks.
Team Stats
GCU
LBSU
Kills
53
56
Errors
21
17
Attempts
124
115
Hitting %
.258
.339
Points
62.5
68.5
Assists
52
53
Aces
3
2
Blocks
6.5
10.5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
10
Aces
2
Blocks
8
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
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/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's VolleyballOPP
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