Friday, April 19
Manoa, Hawaii
7:30 PM
Long Beach State University
24-2,9-1Big West
3
vs
1
CSUN
13-16,3-7Big West
1
2
3
4
F
CSUN
23
25
20
22
1
Long Beach St.
25
22
25
25
3
No. 1 Seed Long Beach State Advances To The Big West Championship Match With 3-1 Win Over No. 5 Seed CSUN
4/20/2024 12:36:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
Clarke Godbold tied his season-high with 18 kills as the Beach hit .358 and put up 11 blocks in a four-set victory over the Matadors
HONOLULU – Top-seeded Long Beach State came into SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center and hit .358 and put up 11.0 blocks on their way to earning a 3-1 [25-23, 22-25, 25-20, 25-22] victory over No. 5 seed CSUN on Friday night in The Big West Championship Semifinals.
With the victory, No. 2 Long Beach improves to 24-2 and advances to The Big West Championship match on Saturday, April 20 at 7 p.m. (HT)/10 p.m. (PT). LBSU will play the winner of the No. 2 seed UC Irvine-No. 3 seed Hawaii match.
No. 14 CSUN ends its season with an overall record of 13-16. The Matadors went 3-7 in The Big West.
The Beach and the Matadors battled each other in an exciting four-setter that saw 38 ties and 14 lead changes. Long Beach held the advantage in hitting (.358 to .253) and blocks (11.0 to 3.5), while CSUN held the edge in aces (5 to 3) and digs (34 to 26). The conference foes matched each other in kills (54) and assists (52).
Senior outside hitter Clarke Godbold did an excellent job leading the Long Beach State offensive attack. He tied his season-high with 18 kills on a .368 attack percentage as he accounted for one-third on the Beach's kills.
Joining Godbold in double-digits were junior outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis and sophomore opposite Skyler Varga. Siapanis finished the match with 13 kills on a .360 clip, while adding six digs, two blocks, two aces, and a pair of assists. Varga concluded the match hitting .417 with 12 kills to go along with five digs and two blocks.
Senior setter Aidan Knipe ran the offense as he passed out 42 assists and led the Beach to their 18th match of the year hitting .300 or higher. When hitting over .300, Long Beach State is undefeated at an impressive 18-0.
Knipe was effective on all sides of the ball tonight. He registered four digs, three blocks, and one kill to contribute to the Beach.
On the defensive side, senior libero Mason Briggs recorded a team-leading seven digs in the back row, while picking up 19 receptions without committing an error. He also dished out a season-best seven assists on the night.
Meanwhile, senior middle blocker Simon Torwie posted seven blocks at the net, while junior middle blocker, and Honolulu native, DiAeris McRaven added four. The middles also combined for 10 kills as Torwie notched six and McRaven knocked down four.
The match began close as the two teams exchanged points early on. By the media timeout, Long Beach State held a one-point advantage (15-14) over CSUN after back-to-back kills from Torwie and Godbold. The lead was short-lived, however, as CSUN used a 3-0 run to take a 20-18 edge. The Beach bounced back and closed the opening set on a 4-0 run on their way to winning, 25-23.
Long Beach State continued their run to start the second set as the Beach took a quick 2-0 lead. The Matadors would come back and even the game at 7-7, before LBSU, once again went up by one (15-14) at the media timeout. The conference foes went back and forth until a 4-0 Long Beach run put the Beach up 19-16 and forced CSUN to call a timeout. The Matadors came out of the break and closed the set on a 5-0 run to win 25-22, and even the match 1-1.
The close games continued into the third set as the Beach and the Matadors stayed within striking distance of each other. Leading 12-11, Long Beach State used a 4-0 run to open up a 16-11 advantage over the Matadors. However, CSUN would later use a 4-0 run of its own to come back and pull within one (17-16) of the Beach. Dane Hillis came in off the bench and helped lead the Beach on a 5-0 run highlighted by an ace from Siapanis on the way to sending LBSU to set point, 24-19. LBSU would go on to claim the third set, 25-20 on a set-winning kill from Godbold.
The fourth set saw the Beach score four-straight points early on as they took a 7-4 lead over the Matadors. CSUN took a timeout and immediately came out and scored three-straight to tie things up at 7-all, before taking a 12-11 lead on another 3-0 run. The Beach and the Matadors exchanged leads and LBSU found itself down by two (21-19) late in the set. A kill from Varga led the Beach on a 6-1 run as they would go on to close the set and match on a 3-0 run with a kill from Godbold, followed by a block from Varga and Torwie, and capped on a match-winning kill from Siapanis as LBSU went on to win 25-22.
The Matadors were led by Jalen Phillips' 19 kills, while Kyle Hobus and Griffin Walters each added 13. Setter Donovan Constable dished out 49 assists in the match, while Chris Karnezis logged 14 digs at libero.
With the victory, No. 2 Long Beach improves to 24-2 and advances to The Big West Championship match on Saturday, April 20 at 7 p.m. (HT)/10 p.m. (PT). LBSU will play the winner of the No. 2 seed UC Irvine-No. 3 seed Hawaii match.
No. 14 CSUN ends its season with an overall record of 13-16. The Matadors went 3-7 in The Big West.
The Beach and the Matadors battled each other in an exciting four-setter that saw 38 ties and 14 lead changes. Long Beach held the advantage in hitting (.358 to .253) and blocks (11.0 to 3.5), while CSUN held the edge in aces (5 to 3) and digs (34 to 26). The conference foes matched each other in kills (54) and assists (52).
Senior outside hitter Clarke Godbold did an excellent job leading the Long Beach State offensive attack. He tied his season-high with 18 kills on a .368 attack percentage as he accounted for one-third on the Beach's kills.
Joining Godbold in double-digits were junior outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis and sophomore opposite Skyler Varga. Siapanis finished the match with 13 kills on a .360 clip, while adding six digs, two blocks, two aces, and a pair of assists. Varga concluded the match hitting .417 with 12 kills to go along with five digs and two blocks.
Varga finds the line for a Beach KILL! Beach lead 10-8! #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/DFbJUpIglZ
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) April 20, 2024
Senior setter Aidan Knipe ran the offense as he passed out 42 assists and led the Beach to their 18th match of the year hitting .300 or higher. When hitting over .300, Long Beach State is undefeated at an impressive 18-0.
Knipe was effective on all sides of the ball tonight. He registered four digs, three blocks, and one kill to contribute to the Beach.
On the defensive side, senior libero Mason Briggs recorded a team-leading seven digs in the back row, while picking up 19 receptions without committing an error. He also dished out a season-best seven assists on the night.
Meanwhile, senior middle blocker Simon Torwie posted seven blocks at the net, while junior middle blocker, and Honolulu native, DiAeris McRaven added four. The middles also combined for 10 kills as Torwie notched six and McRaven knocked down four.
The match began close as the two teams exchanged points early on. By the media timeout, Long Beach State held a one-point advantage (15-14) over CSUN after back-to-back kills from Torwie and Godbold. The lead was short-lived, however, as CSUN used a 3-0 run to take a 20-18 edge. The Beach bounced back and closed the opening set on a 4-0 run on their way to winning, 25-23.
Long Beach State continued their run to start the second set as the Beach took a quick 2-0 lead. The Matadors would come back and even the game at 7-7, before LBSU, once again went up by one (15-14) at the media timeout. The conference foes went back and forth until a 4-0 Long Beach run put the Beach up 19-16 and forced CSUN to call a timeout. The Matadors came out of the break and closed the set on a 5-0 run to win 25-22, and even the match 1-1.
The close games continued into the third set as the Beach and the Matadors stayed within striking distance of each other. Leading 12-11, Long Beach State used a 4-0 run to open up a 16-11 advantage over the Matadors. However, CSUN would later use a 4-0 run of its own to come back and pull within one (17-16) of the Beach. Dane Hillis came in off the bench and helped lead the Beach on a 5-0 run highlighted by an ace from Siapanis on the way to sending LBSU to set point, 24-19. LBSU would go on to claim the third set, 25-20 on a set-winning kill from Godbold.
Godbold uses the block for a KILL to take set 3 25-20! #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/BP1cUqodBM
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) April 20, 2024
The fourth set saw the Beach score four-straight points early on as they took a 7-4 lead over the Matadors. CSUN took a timeout and immediately came out and scored three-straight to tie things up at 7-all, before taking a 12-11 lead on another 3-0 run. The Beach and the Matadors exchanged leads and LBSU found itself down by two (21-19) late in the set. A kill from Varga led the Beach on a 6-1 run as they would go on to close the set and match on a 3-0 run with a kill from Godbold, followed by a block from Varga and Torwie, and capped on a match-winning kill from Siapanis as LBSU went on to win 25-22.
The Matadors were led by Jalen Phillips' 19 kills, while Kyle Hobus and Griffin Walters each added 13. Setter Donovan Constable dished out 49 assists in the match, while Chris Karnezis logged 14 digs at libero.
Team Stats
CSUN
LBSU
Kills
54
54
Errors
24
15
Attempts
119
109
Hitting %
.252
.358
Points
62.5
68.0
Assists
52
52
Aces
5
3
Blocks
3.5
11
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
18
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
13
Aces
2
Blocks
2
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
7
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
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/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's VolleyballMB
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