Friday, March 29
Long Beach, Calif.
7:00 p.m.
Long Beach State University
19-1,5-0Big West
3
vs
0
UC San Diego
11-11,3-3Big West
1
2
3
F
UC San Diego
17
15
16
0
Long Beach St.
25
25
25
3
Photo by: John Fajardo
No. 1 Long Beach State Dominates No. 17 UC San Diego In Sweep
3/29/2024 11:54:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
Knipe and Varga lead the Beach past the Tritons for LBSU’s ninth-consecutive victory
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Top-ranked Long Beach State turned in a dominating performance on Friday night at the Walter Pyramid. The Beach swept No. 17 UC San Diego, 3-0 [25-17, 25-15, 25-16] as they extended their winning streak to nine.
Long Beach State (19-1, 5-0 Big West) has been on a roll as the Beach improved to 5-0 in Big West action and 15-0 when playing at home. Dating back to last season, LBSU has now won 23-consecutive home matches, which ranks third in the record book.
The Beach hit .370 on the night marking the 14th time this season they have hit over .300. On the defensive end, Long Beach put up 13.5 total team blocks. Meanwhile, UC San Diego (11-11, 3-3 Big West) was limited to a .101 attack percentage and just 2.0 blocks.
Senior setter Aidan Knipe was efficient for the Beach as he spread around 28 assists and got four hitters five or more kills. Knipe chipped in himself with a dump in the second set for his lone kill of the match to go along with four digs, two blocks, and an ace.
Sophomore right side Skyler Varga led the team in kills (10) and blocks (8). The big night for Varga saw him add five digs and one ace, while hitting .389 (10-3-18) on the night.
Nathan Harlan got the start at outside hitter and concluded the match with nine kills on a .286 clip, while also posting three digs, one block, and one assist.
In the middle, DiAeris McRaven and Simon Torwie were excellent. The duo put up a combined 12 blocks as McRaven recorded seven, which was just one off his career-high, and Torwie registered five. If that weren't enough, the pair also helped out on the offensive end as McRaven hit .500 with seven kills and Torwie knocked down four kills on seven errorless swings for a .571 clip.
After a back-and-forth early part of set one, Long Beach State used a 5-0 run to take an 11-7 lead over UC San Diego. The run was highlighted by back-to-back kills from Harlan and an ace from Torwie which forced the Tritons to call a timeout. The Beach continued to soar ahead as they led by six (18-12) by UCSD's second called timeout. With the game heavily in Long Beach's favor, the hosts scored four-straight points to send it to set point (24-16) before winning the game on a block assist from Varga and McRaven, 25-17.
The Long Beach State offense really heated up in the second set as the Beach hit .619 with 15 kills in the frame. Varga was perfect in the set as he hit 1.000 scoring six kills on as many swings. With the game trending in Long Beach's direction, block from Sebastiano Sani, Varga, and McRaven opened up a double-figure lead (24-14) and sent the game to set point. The Beach would go on to take the second set, 25-15.
The third set saw the Beach put together several short 3-0 runs early on, before tallying five-consecutive points to take a 22-14 advantage over the Tritons. The 5-0 run was capped by an ace from Sotiris Siapanis who would go on to finish the match with six kills, four digs, three blocks, three assists, and one ace. LBSU held onto its lead the rest of the way taking the third set, 25-16, to complete the sweep.
Anthony Cherfan led the Tritons with 11 kills on a .280 hitting percentage. He also added five digs and one block. Setter Gabriel Dyer posted 23 assists, four digs and one block, meanwhile liber Evan Boyle contributed eight digs to go along with two assists.
The Beach and the Tritons will conclude the series on Saturday, March 30. First serve is set for 7 p.m. at LionTree Arena in La Jolla. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
Long Beach State (19-1, 5-0 Big West) has been on a roll as the Beach improved to 5-0 in Big West action and 15-0 when playing at home. Dating back to last season, LBSU has now won 23-consecutive home matches, which ranks third in the record book.
The Beach hit .370 on the night marking the 14th time this season they have hit over .300. On the defensive end, Long Beach put up 13.5 total team blocks. Meanwhile, UC San Diego (11-11, 3-3 Big West) was limited to a .101 attack percentage and just 2.0 blocks.
Senior setter Aidan Knipe was efficient for the Beach as he spread around 28 assists and got four hitters five or more kills. Knipe chipped in himself with a dump in the second set for his lone kill of the match to go along with four digs, two blocks, and an ace.
Sophomore right side Skyler Varga led the team in kills (10) and blocks (8). The big night for Varga saw him add five digs and one ace, while hitting .389 (10-3-18) on the night.
Nathan Harlan got the start at outside hitter and concluded the match with nine kills on a .286 clip, while also posting three digs, one block, and one assist.
In the middle, DiAeris McRaven and Simon Torwie were excellent. The duo put up a combined 12 blocks as McRaven recorded seven, which was just one off his career-high, and Torwie registered five. If that weren't enough, the pair also helped out on the offensive end as McRaven hit .500 with seven kills and Torwie knocked down four kills on seven errorless swings for a .571 clip.
After a back-and-forth early part of set one, Long Beach State used a 5-0 run to take an 11-7 lead over UC San Diego. The run was highlighted by back-to-back kills from Harlan and an ace from Torwie which forced the Tritons to call a timeout. The Beach continued to soar ahead as they led by six (18-12) by UCSD's second called timeout. With the game heavily in Long Beach's favor, the hosts scored four-straight points to send it to set point (24-16) before winning the game on a block assist from Varga and McRaven, 25-17.
BIG Block to win set 1!??#GoBeach pic.twitter.com/XCePcmrNLi
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) March 30, 2024
The Long Beach State offense really heated up in the second set as the Beach hit .619 with 15 kills in the frame. Varga was perfect in the set as he hit 1.000 scoring six kills on as many swings. With the game trending in Long Beach's direction, block from Sebastiano Sani, Varga, and McRaven opened up a double-figure lead (24-14) and sent the game to set point. The Beach would go on to take the second set, 25-15.
The third set saw the Beach put together several short 3-0 runs early on, before tallying five-consecutive points to take a 22-14 advantage over the Tritons. The 5-0 run was capped by an ace from Sotiris Siapanis who would go on to finish the match with six kills, four digs, three blocks, three assists, and one ace. LBSU held onto its lead the rest of the way taking the third set, 25-16, to complete the sweep.
Anthony Cherfan led the Tritons with 11 kills on a .280 hitting percentage. He also added five digs and one block. Setter Gabriel Dyer posted 23 assists, four digs and one block, meanwhile liber Evan Boyle contributed eight digs to go along with two assists.
The Beach and the Tritons will conclude the series on Saturday, March 30. First serve is set for 7 p.m. at LionTree Arena in La Jolla. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
Team Stats
UCSD
LBSU
Kills
29
37
Errors
21
10
Attempts
79
73
Hitting %
.101
.370
Points
32.0
54.5
Assists
27
33
Aces
1
4
Blocks
2
13.5
Game Leaders
Kills
10
Aces
1
Blocks
8
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
7
Kills
6
Aces
1
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
OH/OPP
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's VolleyballOPP
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