Friday, March 8
Long Beach, Calif.
7:00 p.m.
Long Beach State University
15-1,1-0Big West
3
vs
1
UC Santa Barbara
7-11,0-2Big West
1
2
3
4
F
UC Santa Barbara
25
21
20
20
1
Long Beach St.
22
25
25
25
3
Varga’s Career Night Lifts No. 2 LBSU Over No. 19 UC Santa Barbara In Four
3/8/2024 11:51:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
Skyler Varga recorded a career-high 19 kills, while Aidan Knipe piloted the Beach to a .411 attack percentage in the 3-1 win over UCSB
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Sophomore opposite Skyler Varga led No. 2 Long Beach State to victory with a career-high 19-kill performance against No. 19 UC Santa Barbara, 3-1 [22-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-20] on Friday night at the Walter Pyramid.
The Beach (15-1, 1-0 Big West) picked up their first conference win as they hit .411 and defeated the Gauchos (7-11, 0-2 Big West) in a battle that saw 22 ties over four sets of action.
Varga led a trio of double-figure scorers for LBSU as he knocked down 19 kill and hit .395 (19-4-28), while adding eight digs, three assists, and two blocks. Junior outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis was efficient hitting .480 (15-3-25) with 15 kills to go along with four digs, two blocks, one assist, and one ace. Rounding out the double-digit scorers was senior outside hitter Clarke Godbold who concluded the match with 14 kills on a .345 clip (14-4-29), while adding six digs and one block.
Setter Aidan Knipe did an excellent job spreading the ball around as he registered a season-high 52 assists. He had five hitters with five or more kills, and everyone hit higher than .345 on the night. Knipe helped out on the defensive end as well logging eight digs and two blocks.
Senior libero Mason Briggs turned in another double-figure dig performance as he collected 11 digs.
At the net, middle blockers Simon Torwie and Lazar Bouchkov each put up three blocks for the Beach. Bouchkov finished the match hitting .455 (7-2-11), and Torwie contributed a .444 attack percentage (5-1-9) to go along with one dig and one ace.
Long Beach State opened the match scoring three-straight points to jump out in front of the Gauchos. However, UCSB was quick to score four-straight of their own to go up 4-3 on the Beach. That would be the trend of the first set as the conference foes fought each other through eight ties, before UC Santa Barbara edged LBSU to take the first set, 25-22.
Set two was back-and-forth early on. However, the Beach went up for good after stringing together three-consecutive points capped by a Torwie ace to take a 14-12 lead. LBSU held the advantage the rest of the way as the Beach hit .480 (15-3-25) in the frame as Siapanis knocked down five kills on six swings without committing an error to hit .833 in the frame. The Beach would go on to win the second set on a block assist by Varga and Bouchkov.
Tied at 1-1, The Beach and the Gauchos once again traded points early in the third set. After eight ties, Long Beach State broke the game open as the Beach went on a 7-0 run. Godbold led the Beach from the line during that run and Varga accounted for four of Long Beach's seven points in that span. Now leading 20-16, the Beach held the lead the rest of the way and came away with a 25-20 victory.
Long Beach State got on the board quickly in the fourth set thanks to back-to-back kills from Godbold and Siapanis and never trailed. The Beach held the lead the rest of the way as they hit .464 in the frame knocking down 15 kills on 28 swings, while committing just two attack errors. LBSU would go on to win the set and match on a kill from Godbold, 25-20.
UCSB was led by Geste Bianchi who finished the match with 25 kills on a .420 attack percentage (25-4-50). He also logged eight digs, while putting up three blocks and serving up an ace. Setter Jack Walmer guided the Gauchos to a .333 team attack percentage as he dished out 45 assists to go along with seven digs and two aces.
Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara will be back in action on Saturday, March 9 at Rob Gym in Santa Barbara, Calif. First serve is set for 6 p.m. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
The Beach (15-1, 1-0 Big West) picked up their first conference win as they hit .411 and defeated the Gauchos (7-11, 0-2 Big West) in a battle that saw 22 ties over four sets of action.
Varga led a trio of double-figure scorers for LBSU as he knocked down 19 kill and hit .395 (19-4-28), while adding eight digs, three assists, and two blocks. Junior outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis was efficient hitting .480 (15-3-25) with 15 kills to go along with four digs, two blocks, one assist, and one ace. Rounding out the double-digit scorers was senior outside hitter Clarke Godbold who concluded the match with 14 kills on a .345 clip (14-4-29), while adding six digs and one block.
Skyler Varga is at a new career-high with 19 kills...and counting! #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/p2OyuHU3sz
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) March 9, 2024
Setter Aidan Knipe did an excellent job spreading the ball around as he registered a season-high 52 assists. He had five hitters with five or more kills, and everyone hit higher than .345 on the night. Knipe helped out on the defensive end as well logging eight digs and two blocks.
Senior libero Mason Briggs turned in another double-figure dig performance as he collected 11 digs.
At the net, middle blockers Simon Torwie and Lazar Bouchkov each put up three blocks for the Beach. Bouchkov finished the match hitting .455 (7-2-11), and Torwie contributed a .444 attack percentage (5-1-9) to go along with one dig and one ace.
Long Beach State opened the match scoring three-straight points to jump out in front of the Gauchos. However, UCSB was quick to score four-straight of their own to go up 4-3 on the Beach. That would be the trend of the first set as the conference foes fought each other through eight ties, before UC Santa Barbara edged LBSU to take the first set, 25-22.
Set two was back-and-forth early on. However, the Beach went up for good after stringing together three-consecutive points capped by a Torwie ace to take a 14-12 lead. LBSU held the advantage the rest of the way as the Beach hit .480 (15-3-25) in the frame as Siapanis knocked down five kills on six swings without committing an error to hit .833 in the frame. The Beach would go on to win the second set on a block assist by Varga and Bouchkov.
Tied at 1-1, The Beach and the Gauchos once again traded points early in the third set. After eight ties, Long Beach State broke the game open as the Beach went on a 7-0 run. Godbold led the Beach from the line during that run and Varga accounted for four of Long Beach's seven points in that span. Now leading 20-16, the Beach held the lead the rest of the way and came away with a 25-20 victory.
Long Beach State got on the board quickly in the fourth set thanks to back-to-back kills from Godbold and Siapanis and never trailed. The Beach held the lead the rest of the way as they hit .464 in the frame knocking down 15 kills on 28 swings, while committing just two attack errors. LBSU would go on to win the set and match on a kill from Godbold, 25-20.
Clarke Godbold wins it for the Beach with a joust at the net #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/qyAYLOFzps
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) March 9, 2024
UCSB was led by Geste Bianchi who finished the match with 25 kills on a .420 attack percentage (25-4-50). He also logged eight digs, while putting up three blocks and serving up an ace. Setter Jack Walmer guided the Gauchos to a .333 team attack percentage as he dished out 45 assists to go along with seven digs and two aces.
Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara will be back in action on Saturday, March 9 at Rob Gym in Santa Barbara, Calif. First serve is set for 6 p.m. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
Team Stats
UCSB
LBSU
Kills
49
60
Errors
12
14
Attempts
111
112
Hitting %
.333
.411
Points
57.5
69.5
Assists
48
58
Aces
4
3
Blocks
4.5
6.5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
19
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
15
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Kills
14
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Men's Volleyball
L
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's VolleyballOPP
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