Friday, January 12
Long Beach, Calif.
7:00 p.m.
Long Beach State University
1-0,0-0Big West
3
vs
0
Long Island
0-2,0-0NEC
1
2
3
F
LIU
19
17
17
0
Long Beach St.
25
25
25
3
Photo by: John Fajardo
No. 2 Long Beach State Opens The 2024 Season With A Sweep Of Long Island
1/12/2024 10:02:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
The Beach hit .305 in the season opener behind 12 kills and a .500 attack percentage from Clarke Godbold
LONG BEACH, Calif. – No. 2 Long Beach State kicked off the 2024 season hitting .305 on its way to a 3-0 [25-19, 25-17, 25-17] sweep of Long Island on Friday night at the Walter Pyramid.
The Beach (1-0) were solid as they never allowed the Sharks (0-2) to score more than 19 points in a single set, while limiting the visitors to a .081 attack percentage. Long Beach State led LIU in all areas of the game, while dominating at the net getting numerous touches and finishing with 9.0 total team blocks.
Senior outside hitter Clarke Godbold led LBSU with 12 kills on the night as he hit .500 (12-1-22) to pace the Beach. He was on point on all sides of the ball finishing the match with three blocks, three assists, and one dig.
Senior setter Aidan Knipe distributed the ball well getting four hitters double figure swings, while collecting 28 assists. Knipe added five digs and two blocks on the defensive end of the game.
Senior libero Mason Briggs logged 10 digs in the backrow on his way to recording his 35th double figure blocking match of his career.
Junior outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis concluded the match with nine kills, two aces, two assists, one block, and one dig, while redshirt sophomore Skyler Varga added eight kills, three digs, two aces, and a block in his first career start.
Making his collegiate debut with a start at middle blocker, freshman Lazar Bouchkov made the most of his outing hitting an impressive .800 (4-0-5), while leading the team with four blocks.
Long Island opened the match scoring three-straight points to take a quick 3-0 lead on LBSU. However, the Beach were quick to counter tying the game at 3-all, before scoring three-straight points of their own to go up 6-4. By the media timeout, Long Beach State held a 15-13 edge over the Sharks. Back-to-back kills from Varga and Godbold gave the Beach a four-point advantage (19-14) as LIU called for a timeout. The Beach got an ace from Varga as they extended their lead to seven (22-15) as Long Island signaled for another break in action. The Beach continued to control the game as they would go on to win the first set, 25-19, after a block by Simon Torwie and Knipe.
The second set saw LIU jump ahead 3-1, before LBSU scored four-straight to take a 12-9 lead. From there, the Beach led the rest of the way. Redshirt sophomore Connor Bloom came in to serve and led the Beach on a short run that culminated in an ace that would put LBSU up 15-10. From there, the Beach continued to control the game as Siapanis served up an ace to open up an eight-point lead (20-12) before winning, 25-17.
Leading two sets to none, Long Beach State came into the third set and hit .367 as the Beach knocked down 15 kills on 30 swings, while committing just four errors. However, Long Island turned in its best showing of the night as well, scoring 10 kills on a .179 clip. With both teams starting out strong, the third set seven early ties. The Beach went ahead for good after Siapanis led them on a serving run capped by an ace that gave the hosts a 14-11 lead. LBSU led the rest of the way as the Beach used a 4-0 run to take a 20-14 advantage after a kill from Godbold. Long Beach State would go on to close the set and match with four-straight points as Varga put the contest away on an ace, 25-17.
Kale Spencer of LIU led the way for the Sharks with 10 kills on a .250 hitting percentage. Roei Horovitz dished out 24 assists to go along with seven digs and two aces. Libero Joseph Nunez also added seven digs, while Arthur Sueur put up three blocks.
Long Beach State will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 13 when the Beach host Saint Francis (Pa.) at the Walter Pyramid at 7 p.m., following a 3 p.m. LBSU Women's Basketball game against UCSB.
The Beach (1-0) were solid as they never allowed the Sharks (0-2) to score more than 19 points in a single set, while limiting the visitors to a .081 attack percentage. Long Beach State led LIU in all areas of the game, while dominating at the net getting numerous touches and finishing with 9.0 total team blocks.
Senior outside hitter Clarke Godbold led LBSU with 12 kills on the night as he hit .500 (12-1-22) to pace the Beach. He was on point on all sides of the ball finishing the match with three blocks, three assists, and one dig.
Senior setter Aidan Knipe distributed the ball well getting four hitters double figure swings, while collecting 28 assists. Knipe added five digs and two blocks on the defensive end of the game.
Senior libero Mason Briggs logged 10 digs in the backrow on his way to recording his 35th double figure blocking match of his career.
Junior outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis concluded the match with nine kills, two aces, two assists, one block, and one dig, while redshirt sophomore Skyler Varga added eight kills, three digs, two aces, and a block in his first career start.
Mason Briggs with the brilliant dig as Skyler Varga puts it away. Thank you, Clarke Godbold #GoBeach #Teamwork pic.twitter.com/pafzbEG33e
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) January 13, 2024
Making his collegiate debut with a start at middle blocker, freshman Lazar Bouchkov made the most of his outing hitting an impressive .800 (4-0-5), while leading the team with four blocks.
Long Island opened the match scoring three-straight points to take a quick 3-0 lead on LBSU. However, the Beach were quick to counter tying the game at 3-all, before scoring three-straight points of their own to go up 6-4. By the media timeout, Long Beach State held a 15-13 edge over the Sharks. Back-to-back kills from Varga and Godbold gave the Beach a four-point advantage (19-14) as LIU called for a timeout. The Beach got an ace from Varga as they extended their lead to seven (22-15) as Long Island signaled for another break in action. The Beach continued to control the game as they would go on to win the first set, 25-19, after a block by Simon Torwie and Knipe.
The second set saw LIU jump ahead 3-1, before LBSU scored four-straight to take a 12-9 lead. From there, the Beach led the rest of the way. Redshirt sophomore Connor Bloom came in to serve and led the Beach on a short run that culminated in an ace that would put LBSU up 15-10. From there, the Beach continued to control the game as Siapanis served up an ace to open up an eight-point lead (20-12) before winning, 25-17.
Leading two sets to none, Long Beach State came into the third set and hit .367 as the Beach knocked down 15 kills on 30 swings, while committing just four errors. However, Long Island turned in its best showing of the night as well, scoring 10 kills on a .179 clip. With both teams starting out strong, the third set seven early ties. The Beach went ahead for good after Siapanis led them on a serving run capped by an ace that gave the hosts a 14-11 lead. LBSU led the rest of the way as the Beach used a 4-0 run to take a 20-14 advantage after a kill from Godbold. Long Beach State would go on to close the set and match with four-straight points as Varga put the contest away on an ace, 25-17.
Long Beach State wins it on an ace ?? from Skyler Varga #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/8JKePuAs9M
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) January 13, 2024
Kale Spencer of LIU led the way for the Sharks with 10 kills on a .250 hitting percentage. Roei Horovitz dished out 24 assists to go along with seven digs and two aces. Libero Joseph Nunez also added seven digs, while Arthur Sueur put up three blocks.
Long Beach State will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 13 when the Beach host Saint Francis (Pa.) at the Walter Pyramid at 7 p.m., following a 3 p.m. LBSU Women's Basketball game against UCSB.
PRESSER: Hear what @LBSUMVB Head Coach Alan Knipe and players Clarke Godbold, Skyler Varga, and Lazar Bouchkov had to say about the team's season-opening sweep of LIU #GoBeach https://t.co/NZFDxbPbcN
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) January 13, 2024
Team Stats
LIU
LBSU
Kills
27
36
Errors
20
11
Attempts
86
82
Hitting %
.081
.305
Points
34.0
51.0
Assists
26
35
Aces
3
6
Blocks
4
9
Game Leaders
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
9
Aces
2
Blocks
1
Kills
8
Aces
2
Blocks
1
Kills
4
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Players Mentioned
OH/OPP
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's Volleyball
L
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
OPP
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
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