Friday, February 23
Long Beach, Calif.
7:00 p.m.
Long Beach State University
13-1,0-0Big West
3
vs
1
Lewis
8-7,3-3MIVA
1
2
3
4
F
Lewis
19
26
15
19
1
Long Beach St.
25
24
25
25
3
Photo by: John Fajardo
Mason Briggs Records His 800th Career Dig In No. 1 Long Beach State’s Four Set Win Over No. 15 Lewis
2/23/2024 10:56:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
Mason Briggs logged 15 digs on his historic night, while Clarke Godbold led the offense with 16 kills, and Simon Torwie hit a powerful .812 (13-0-16) in the Beach’s third-straight victory
LONG BEACH, Calif. – It was a historic night for senior libero Mason Briggs as he recorded his 800th career dig in No. 1 Long Beach State's, 3-1 [25-19, 24-26, 25-15, 25-19], win over No. 15 Lewis on Friday night at the Walter Pyramid.
Briggs finished the night with a team-leading 15 digs on his way to becoming just the fifth player in Long Beach State Men's Volleyball program history to reach the 800-career dig milestone. In his career, Briggs now has registered 804 digs to rank fourth all-time at the Beach.
With Briggs anchoring the defense, Long Beach State (13-1) won its third-consecutive contest and 13th in the last 14 matches. Meanwhile, Lewis (8-7) dropped is fourth match in the five contests.
The Beach and the Flyers played each other tough as LBSU outhit Lewis .259 to .224, but the Flyers led the way in blocking defense 14.0 to 10.0. The Beach, however, also held the edge in kills (52-39), assists (50-36), aces (9-2), and digs (42-32).
Senior outside hitter Clarke Godbold led the Long Beach State offensive attack with 16 kills on a .344 (16-5-32) clip. He also contributed seven digs and a career-high five aces.
Simon Torwie and Skyler Varga each knocked down 13 kills. Torwie was nearly perfect as his 13 kills came on 16 errorless swings en route to an incredible .812 attack percentage. He also led the team with six blocks, while adding three digs, and one ace. Varga, meanwhile, posted six digs, three blocks, and one ace, while hitting .286.
Setter Aidan Knipe did a good job passing the ball around as he logged 44 assists on the night to go along with two digs and a pair of blocks.
The match began close, but Long Beach State used a 6-0 run to take a 17-13 lead over Lewis. Godbold highlighted the run with back-to-back aces which forced Lewis to call for a timeout. The Beach hit .406 in the opening frame and owned a 78% sideout percentage. Godbold and Varga led the squad with five kills each in the first set. Varga's fifth kill of the game earned the Beach the win, 25-19.
Lewis got off to a quick 7-3 lead to begin the second set as Long Beach took an early timeout. The Beach closed the gap, 7-6, but the Flyers pushed ahead, 12-8. LBSU chipped away again, pulling within one (12-11), as Lewis utilized a timeout. From there, the Flyers took a four-point (18-14) advantage as Long Beach called their second timeout of the frame. The Beach did a solid job staying in the game and even taking a 22-21 lead on a block assist by Knipe and Torwie to cap a 4-0 LBSU run. The tight game saw Lewis hit set point twice, before claiming the second set, 26-24, to even the match at one set apiece.
The Flyers carried that momentum into the third set as they jumped out in front to an early 5-1 lead. Long Beach State, however, wasted no time getting back in the game as the Beach tallied three-straight points to even the score at 9-all. Godbold recorded another back-to-back aces to put the Beach on top of the Flyers, 13-10. LBSU controlled the game the rest of the way as the Beach scored five-consecutive points to open up a 20-13 lead on an ace by Nathan Harlan. Harlan was key to Long Beach State's success as he led LBSU on a 5-0 run. Following suit, Connor Bloom came in and led the Beach on a 5-1 serving run, highlighted by an ace, to close the set, 25-15.
After claiming the third set in convincing fashion, Long Beach State kicked off the fourth set with four-straight points. The Beach led the entire frame, only allowing the Flyers to tie the game five times, before pulling ahead. Torwie broke the final tie of the game with a kill to put the Beach up 15-14. LBSU surged ahead and Torwie put the set and match away on a kill to give the Beach a 25-19 win.
Harlan would finish the match with five kills on a .400 attack percentage, while contributing four digs, three blocks, two assists, and one ace.
Max Roquet led Lewis with nine kills, while Daniel Haber added eight kills and as many digs. Tyler Morgan dished out 34 assists to go along with seven digs and two blocks. Piotr Wymoccyl led the blocking defense with seven blocks, while posting six kills, and accounting for the Flyers' two aces.
Long Beach State will host No. 9 Penn State on Friday, March 1 at the Walter Pyramid. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. The contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
Briggs finished the night with a team-leading 15 digs on his way to becoming just the fifth player in Long Beach State Men's Volleyball program history to reach the 800-career dig milestone. In his career, Briggs now has registered 804 digs to rank fourth all-time at the Beach.
There it is! Career dig #800 for Mason Briggs! Briggs has now become just the fifth player in Long Beach State Men's Volleyball Program history to reach that milestone. CONGRATULATIONS MASON BRIGGS! #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/GwHn9RfRyl
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) February 24, 2024
With Briggs anchoring the defense, Long Beach State (13-1) won its third-consecutive contest and 13th in the last 14 matches. Meanwhile, Lewis (8-7) dropped is fourth match in the five contests.
The Beach and the Flyers played each other tough as LBSU outhit Lewis .259 to .224, but the Flyers led the way in blocking defense 14.0 to 10.0. The Beach, however, also held the edge in kills (52-39), assists (50-36), aces (9-2), and digs (42-32).
Senior outside hitter Clarke Godbold led the Long Beach State offensive attack with 16 kills on a .344 (16-5-32) clip. He also contributed seven digs and a career-high five aces.
Simon Torwie and Skyler Varga each knocked down 13 kills. Torwie was nearly perfect as his 13 kills came on 16 errorless swings en route to an incredible .812 attack percentage. He also led the team with six blocks, while adding three digs, and one ace. Varga, meanwhile, posted six digs, three blocks, and one ace, while hitting .286.
Setter Aidan Knipe did a good job passing the ball around as he logged 44 assists on the night to go along with two digs and a pair of blocks.
The match began close, but Long Beach State used a 6-0 run to take a 17-13 lead over Lewis. Godbold highlighted the run with back-to-back aces which forced Lewis to call for a timeout. The Beach hit .406 in the opening frame and owned a 78% sideout percentage. Godbold and Varga led the squad with five kills each in the first set. Varga's fifth kill of the game earned the Beach the win, 25-19.
Lewis got off to a quick 7-3 lead to begin the second set as Long Beach took an early timeout. The Beach closed the gap, 7-6, but the Flyers pushed ahead, 12-8. LBSU chipped away again, pulling within one (12-11), as Lewis utilized a timeout. From there, the Flyers took a four-point (18-14) advantage as Long Beach called their second timeout of the frame. The Beach did a solid job staying in the game and even taking a 22-21 lead on a block assist by Knipe and Torwie to cap a 4-0 LBSU run. The tight game saw Lewis hit set point twice, before claiming the second set, 26-24, to even the match at one set apiece.
The Flyers carried that momentum into the third set as they jumped out in front to an early 5-1 lead. Long Beach State, however, wasted no time getting back in the game as the Beach tallied three-straight points to even the score at 9-all. Godbold recorded another back-to-back aces to put the Beach on top of the Flyers, 13-10. LBSU controlled the game the rest of the way as the Beach scored five-consecutive points to open up a 20-13 lead on an ace by Nathan Harlan. Harlan was key to Long Beach State's success as he led LBSU on a 5-0 run. Following suit, Connor Bloom came in and led the Beach on a 5-1 serving run, highlighted by an ace, to close the set, 25-15.
After claiming the third set in convincing fashion, Long Beach State kicked off the fourth set with four-straight points. The Beach led the entire frame, only allowing the Flyers to tie the game five times, before pulling ahead. Torwie broke the final tie of the game with a kill to put the Beach up 15-14. LBSU surged ahead and Torwie put the set and match away on a kill to give the Beach a 25-19 win.
Simon Torwie wins it with a kill! #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/A1mWj2BFij
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) February 24, 2024
Harlan would finish the match with five kills on a .400 attack percentage, while contributing four digs, three blocks, two assists, and one ace.
Max Roquet led Lewis with nine kills, while Daniel Haber added eight kills and as many digs. Tyler Morgan dished out 34 assists to go along with seven digs and two blocks. Piotr Wymoccyl led the blocking defense with seven blocks, while posting six kills, and accounting for the Flyers' two aces.
Long Beach State will host No. 9 Penn State on Friday, March 1 at the Walter Pyramid. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. The contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
Team Stats
Lewis
LBSU
Kills
39
52
Errors
15
23
Attempts
107
112
Hitting %
.224
.259
Points
55.0
71.0
Assists
36
50
Aces
2
9
Blocks
14
10
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
16
Aces
5
Blocks
1
Kills
13
Aces
1
Blocks
6
Kills
13
Aces
1
Blocks
3
Kills
5
Aces
1
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
OH/OPP
/ Men's Volleyball
L
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's VolleyballOH/OPP
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's VolleyballOPP
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