Saturday, February 10
Los Angeles, Calif.
6:00 p.m.
Long Beach State University
10-1,0-0Big West
1
at
3
UCLA
9-3,0-0MPSF
1
2
3
4
F
Long Beach St.
27
29
19
20
1
UCLA
29
27
25
25
3
No. 1 Long Beach State Suffers 3-1 Setback at No. 4 UCLA on Saturday Night
2/10/2024 9:48:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
Seniors Simon Torwie and Mason Briggs led the Beach on the road with a .636 attack percentage and a season-best 16 digs, respectively
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – It was another epic battle between the Beach and the Bruins as the two Top 5 opponents fought each other through four sets that eventually saw No. 1 Long Beach State fall to No. 4 UCLA by set scores of 27-29, 29-27, 19-25, 20-25.
The Beach (10-1) dropped their first contest of the year as they hit .238 and out-blocked the Bruins (9-3) 11.5-10.0. UCLA, meanwhile, held the advantage in kills (64-51), assists (61-48), aces (6-1), and digs (47-36).
Long Beach State was led by outside hitters Clarke Godbold and Sotiris Siapanis who finished the match with 15 and 13 kills, respectively. Redshirt senior setter Aidan Knipe dished out 43 assists, while adding a kill of his own, to go along with four blocks, and four digs.
In the backrow, senior libero Mason Briggs recorded a season-high 16 digs. He has now registered double-figure digs four times this season and 38 times in his career.
Leading the LBSU blocking defense with four blocks each were Knipe, Godbold, redshirt sophomore opposite Skyler Varga, and freshman middle blocker Lazar Bouchkov. Varga also added nine kills, while Bouchkov contributed six.
Senior middle blocker Simon Torwie was solid on all sides of the ball as he hit .636 (7-0-11) knocking down seven kills, while posting three blocks, and earning the team's lone ace.
Overall, the two foes fought each other through 38 ties and 10 lead changes. Sixteen of those ties came in the first set alone. The evenly balanced game saw UCLA take a 15-11 lead at the media timeout. But the Beach were quick to come back as they scored four-straight points to even the score at 16-all. Three-consecutive points from UCLA sent the Bruins to set point, 24-22. However, the two teams fought through six set points before the Bruins earned a 29-27 win.
The second set was much like the first The Beach and the Bruins exchanged leads twice and broke a dozen ties in the frame. Long Beach State opened the game with a quick 5-1 lead, but UCLA chipped away and evened things up at 13-all forcing an LBSU timeout. The tight game saw the Bruins hit set point (24-23) first. Just like the first set, the Beach and the Bruins battled each other through five set points before Long Beach closed the set on a 3-0 run sparked by a kill from Torwie to give LBSU a 29-27 win.
UCLA jumped out to a 5-2 lead over LBSU to start the third set. However, the Beach were quick to even things up after an ace from Torwie knotted the game at 6-all. Long Beach took an 11-8 lead over UCLA after back-to-back kills from Godbold and Siapanis as the Bruins took a timeout. The break served UCLA well as the hosts came out and went on a 7-1 run to take a 15-12 advantage. From there, the Bruins went on to win, 25-19.
In the fourth set, the Beach went on an early 4-0 run to go up 6-3 over the Bruins. UCLA was quick to counter as the Bruins used a 6-1 run to gain a 9-7 lead. By the media timeout, the Beach were down by four (15-11), and despite staying within striking distance, were unable to regain the lead as they dropped a 25-20 contest to UCLA.
The Bruins boasted four double-figure scorers led by Grant Sloane's 16 kill. Alex Knight added 14 kills, while Cooper Robinson and Merrick McHenry each tallied 10. Setter Andrew Rowan led UCLA to a .301 clip as he registered 59 assists. Libero Ethan Champlin anchored the backrow with 17 digs, while McHenry led the blocking defensive with five blocks.
Long Beach State will be back in action on Friday, February 16 when they host Central State at 7:30 p.m. in the Walter Pyramid.
The Beach (10-1) dropped their first contest of the year as they hit .238 and out-blocked the Bruins (9-3) 11.5-10.0. UCLA, meanwhile, held the advantage in kills (64-51), assists (61-48), aces (6-1), and digs (47-36).
Long Beach State was led by outside hitters Clarke Godbold and Sotiris Siapanis who finished the match with 15 and 13 kills, respectively. Redshirt senior setter Aidan Knipe dished out 43 assists, while adding a kill of his own, to go along with four blocks, and four digs.
In the backrow, senior libero Mason Briggs recorded a season-high 16 digs. He has now registered double-figure digs four times this season and 38 times in his career.
Leading the LBSU blocking defense with four blocks each were Knipe, Godbold, redshirt sophomore opposite Skyler Varga, and freshman middle blocker Lazar Bouchkov. Varga also added nine kills, while Bouchkov contributed six.
Senior middle blocker Simon Torwie was solid on all sides of the ball as he hit .636 (7-0-11) knocking down seven kills, while posting three blocks, and earning the team's lone ace.
Simon Torwie ties it up with an ace ?? #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/1QE92Q8Ae2
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) February 11, 2024
Overall, the two foes fought each other through 38 ties and 10 lead changes. Sixteen of those ties came in the first set alone. The evenly balanced game saw UCLA take a 15-11 lead at the media timeout. But the Beach were quick to come back as they scored four-straight points to even the score at 16-all. Three-consecutive points from UCLA sent the Bruins to set point, 24-22. However, the two teams fought through six set points before the Bruins earned a 29-27 win.
The second set was much like the first The Beach and the Bruins exchanged leads twice and broke a dozen ties in the frame. Long Beach State opened the game with a quick 5-1 lead, but UCLA chipped away and evened things up at 13-all forcing an LBSU timeout. The tight game saw the Bruins hit set point (24-23) first. Just like the first set, the Beach and the Bruins battled each other through five set points before Long Beach closed the set on a 3-0 run sparked by a kill from Torwie to give LBSU a 29-27 win.
UCLA jumped out to a 5-2 lead over LBSU to start the third set. However, the Beach were quick to even things up after an ace from Torwie knotted the game at 6-all. Long Beach took an 11-8 lead over UCLA after back-to-back kills from Godbold and Siapanis as the Bruins took a timeout. The break served UCLA well as the hosts came out and went on a 7-1 run to take a 15-12 advantage. From there, the Bruins went on to win, 25-19.
In the fourth set, the Beach went on an early 4-0 run to go up 6-3 over the Bruins. UCLA was quick to counter as the Bruins used a 6-1 run to gain a 9-7 lead. By the media timeout, the Beach were down by four (15-11), and despite staying within striking distance, were unable to regain the lead as they dropped a 25-20 contest to UCLA.
The Bruins boasted four double-figure scorers led by Grant Sloane's 16 kill. Alex Knight added 14 kills, while Cooper Robinson and Merrick McHenry each tallied 10. Setter Andrew Rowan led UCLA to a .301 clip as he registered 59 assists. Libero Ethan Champlin anchored the backrow with 17 digs, while McHenry led the blocking defensive with five blocks.
Long Beach State will be back in action on Friday, February 16 when they host Central State at 7:30 p.m. in the Walter Pyramid.
Team Stats
LBSU
UCLA
Kills
51
64
Errors
21
24
Attempts
126
133
Hitting %
.238
.301
Points
63.5
79.0
Assists
48
61
Aces
1
6
Blocks
11.5
9
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
15
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
7
Aces
1
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Men's Volleyball
L
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's VolleyballOPP
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