Saturday, January 20
Newark, N.J.
4:00 p.m.
Long Beach State University
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NJIT
3-4,0-0EIVA
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Long Beach St.
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Photo by: John Fajardo
Strong Blocking Lifts No. 2 Long Beach State Over NJIT In Four Sets
1/20/2024 10:13:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
Lazar Bouchkov and Skyler Varga put up career-bests at the net in the Beach’s 3-1 road win over NJIT
NEWARK, N.J. – No. 2 Long Beach State put up a season-high 17.5 blocks at NJIT as the Beach downed the Highlanders, 3-1 [31-29, 23-25, 25-16, 25-22] on Saturday evening at the Wellness and Events Center to close out the NJIT Tournament.
The Beach (5-0) has now won their fifth-straight contest as they out blocked the Highlanders (3-4) 17.5 to 7.5. Long Beach State was solid on the offensive end as well, hitting .367 to NJIT's .250 attack percentage.
Freshman middle blocker Lazar Bouchkov was unstoppable at the net as he posted a career-high 11 blocks to lead the way. Joining Bouchkov with solid blocking defense was sophomore opposite Skyler Varga who put up a career-best nine blocks in the match.
Varga was on-point all night as he narrowly missed a triple-double finishing the contest with 10 kills, nine blocks, and nine digs, to go along with a pair of aces and an assist.
He was one of three players to record double-figure kills as senior outside hitter Clarke Godbold knocked down 21 kills on a .487 attack percentage (21-2-39), and junior outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis added 12 kills on a .259 clip. Godbold also contributed at the net as he recorded six blocks.
Pacing the LBSU offense to a .367 hitting percentage was senior setter Aidan Knipe. In addition to getting three players in double figures, Knipe dished out 44 assists to go along with seven digs and four blocks to contribute on both sides of the ball.
Senior libero Mason Briggs finished the match with five digs and five assists on the night.
The opening set was a battle from start to finish. The Beach hit .407 in the frame, while the Highlander hit .333. The game saw 17 ties and six lead changes, while going into overtime. The back-and-forth affair was an exciting one. An NJIT service error gave LBSU set point, 24-23. However, the Highlanders were quick to tie it. The set would go on to see seven set points, before the Beach closed it out, 31-29, on a kill from Godbold.
NJIT took an early lead in the second set and held a four-point advantage (15-11) at the media timeout. Despite trailing early on, Long Beach State showed its resiliency and chipped away to pull within one (23-22) after an ace from Varga. That was as close as the Beach would come as the Highlanders put the game away, 25-23, and even the match at one set apiece.
Long Beach State hit .542 in the third set as Godbold put down 10 kills on 15 errorless swings to hit .667 in the frame. The Beach broke an 8-8 tie on a kill from Godbold followed by a kill from Varga as the Highlanders called a timeout with LBSU leading 10-8. The Beach came out of the break in action and used a 6-0 run to open up a 21-13 lead. From there, Long Beach State cruised to a 25-16 victory.
Leading 2-1, Long Beach State held NJIT to a .088 hitting percentage in the fourth set as the Beach tallied 6.5 total team blocks in the frame. Bouchkov and Godbold led the way with four blocks each, while Varga added three and Knipe put up two. On the offensive end, Long Beach hit .300 in the frame as the Beach took the lead (6-5) on a block by Bouchkov and Knipe and never looked back. Despite LBSU leading the rest of the way, NJIT stayed within striking distance keeping the Beach on their toes. However, Long Beach State would claim the set and match on a kill from Godbold to give LBSU the 25-22 win.
Alessandro Negri led the Highlanders with 18 kills on a .211 hitting percentage, while Antonio Feliciano tallied 13 kills on a .333 clip. At setter, Griffin Fieseler distributed 43 assists, while adding three kills, three aces, three blocks, and one dig. Libero Ron Tidhar led the way with 12 digs, while Carson Williams put up four blocks.
Long Beach State returns home to the Walter Pyramid to host No. 10 Pepperdine on Friday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
The Beach (5-0) has now won their fifth-straight contest as they out blocked the Highlanders (3-4) 17.5 to 7.5. Long Beach State was solid on the offensive end as well, hitting .367 to NJIT's .250 attack percentage.
Freshman middle blocker Lazar Bouchkov was unstoppable at the net as he posted a career-high 11 blocks to lead the way. Joining Bouchkov with solid blocking defense was sophomore opposite Skyler Varga who put up a career-best nine blocks in the match.
Varga was on-point all night as he narrowly missed a triple-double finishing the contest with 10 kills, nine blocks, and nine digs, to go along with a pair of aces and an assist.
He was one of three players to record double-figure kills as senior outside hitter Clarke Godbold knocked down 21 kills on a .487 attack percentage (21-2-39), and junior outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis added 12 kills on a .259 clip. Godbold also contributed at the net as he recorded six blocks.
Pacing the LBSU offense to a .367 hitting percentage was senior setter Aidan Knipe. In addition to getting three players in double figures, Knipe dished out 44 assists to go along with seven digs and four blocks to contribute on both sides of the ball.
Senior libero Mason Briggs finished the match with five digs and five assists on the night.
The opening set was a battle from start to finish. The Beach hit .407 in the frame, while the Highlander hit .333. The game saw 17 ties and six lead changes, while going into overtime. The back-and-forth affair was an exciting one. An NJIT service error gave LBSU set point, 24-23. However, the Highlanders were quick to tie it. The set would go on to see seven set points, before the Beach closed it out, 31-29, on a kill from Godbold.
NJIT took an early lead in the second set and held a four-point advantage (15-11) at the media timeout. Despite trailing early on, Long Beach State showed its resiliency and chipped away to pull within one (23-22) after an ace from Varga. That was as close as the Beach would come as the Highlanders put the game away, 25-23, and even the match at one set apiece.
Long Beach State hit .542 in the third set as Godbold put down 10 kills on 15 errorless swings to hit .667 in the frame. The Beach broke an 8-8 tie on a kill from Godbold followed by a kill from Varga as the Highlanders called a timeout with LBSU leading 10-8. The Beach came out of the break in action and used a 6-0 run to open up a 21-13 lead. From there, Long Beach State cruised to a 25-16 victory.
Leading 2-1, Long Beach State held NJIT to a .088 hitting percentage in the fourth set as the Beach tallied 6.5 total team blocks in the frame. Bouchkov and Godbold led the way with four blocks each, while Varga added three and Knipe put up two. On the offensive end, Long Beach hit .300 in the frame as the Beach took the lead (6-5) on a block by Bouchkov and Knipe and never looked back. Despite LBSU leading the rest of the way, NJIT stayed within striking distance keeping the Beach on their toes. However, Long Beach State would claim the set and match on a kill from Godbold to give LBSU the 25-22 win.
Alessandro Negri led the Highlanders with 18 kills on a .211 hitting percentage, while Antonio Feliciano tallied 13 kills on a .333 clip. At setter, Griffin Fieseler distributed 43 assists, while adding three kills, three aces, three blocks, and one dig. Libero Ron Tidhar led the way with 12 digs, while Carson Williams put up four blocks.
Long Beach State returns home to the Walter Pyramid to host No. 10 Pepperdine on Friday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
Team Stats
LBSU
NJIT
Kills
53
57
Errors
13
27
Attempts
109
120
Hitting %
.367
.250
Points
74.5
69.5
Assists
52
54
Aces
4
5
Blocks
17.5
7.5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
21
Aces
0
Blocks
6
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
10
Aces
2
Blocks
9
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
11
Players Mentioned
MB
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