Friday, April 5
Long Beach, Calif.
7:00 p.m.
Long Beach State University
3
vs
0
CSUN
Photo by: John Fajardo
No. 1 Long Beach State Drops No. 15 CSUN In Straight Sets
4/5/2024 10:44:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
The Beach win their 11th-straight match with a sweep of CSUN
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Top-ranked Long Beach State extended its winning streak to 11 with a 3-0 [25-18, 25-17, 25-20] sweep of No. 15 CSUN on Friday night at the Walter Pyramid.
The Beach (21-1, 7-0 Big West) hit .321 in the match with 10.5 total team blocks, while the Matadors (11-13, 2-5 Big West) were held to a .107 hitting percentage.
Senior setter Aidan Knipe was on-point tonight as he dished out 32 assists on his way to leading LBSU to its 15th match of the season in which they hit over .300. When hitting higher than .300, Long Beach is undefeated at 15-0.
Knipe spread the ball around as junior outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis led the way with 11 kills on a .455 attack percentage. Meanwhile, Nathan Harlan and Skyler Varga added nine and eight kills on the night, while DiAeris McRaven recorded five kills on a .444 clip.
Harlan was solid tonight as he tied his career-high with three aces, while adding five digs, two blocks, and one assist.
Defensively, senior libero Mason Briggs logged five digs in the back court and was perfect with 17 errorless receptions.
Senior middle blocker Simon Torwie had another solid outing as he led the team with seven blocks to go along with three kills, two digs, and one ace. Joining Torwie at the net was Varga who finished with four blocks, and Siapanis who added three.
CSUN opened the match with four-straight points to take a quick 4-0 lead on Long Beach. Despite the slow start, the Beach chipped away and stayed in the game. Down 12-10, LBSU scored three-straight points to take its first lead of the game (13-12) capped by a kill from Siapanis. From there, Long Beach State held the lead the rest of the way. The Beach opened up a five-point lead (19-14) after a 4-0 run, before going on to win the set, 25-18.
Riding the momentum from their come-from-behind win in set one, Long Beach State used a 5-1 run to take an 8-6 lead over CSUN in the second set. The Beach would tally four-straight points to open up a 12-7 lead over the Matadors forcing the visitors to call a timeout. An ace from Harlan put the Beach up 20-15 as CSUN utilized its final timeout. The break did little to stop the Beach as they closed the second set on a 4-0 run to win 25-17. LBSU hit .409 in the frame and boasted a sideout percentage of 83%.
The Beach lead the entire third set thanks to an early 5-0 run that would put LBSU up 7-2 over CSUN. Long Beach State strung together another four-consecutive points to extend their lead to seven (21-14). The 4-0 run was highlighted by a triple block from Torwie, Siapanis, and Knipe which forced a CSUN timeout. The Matadors cut the Beach's lead down to four (21-17), but LBSU surged ahead and won the set and match, 25-20, on a kill from Harlan.
CSUN's Jalen Phillips led the team with nine kills on a .250 hitting percentage, while adding seven digs. Malcolm King added six kills on a .444 clip to go along with three digs. Setter Donovan Constable contributed 20 assists, four digs, three blocks, three kills, and one ace in a well-rounded performance.
Long Beach State and CSUN will face off again tomorrow, April 6 at 6 p.m. in Northridge. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
The Beach (21-1, 7-0 Big West) hit .321 in the match with 10.5 total team blocks, while the Matadors (11-13, 2-5 Big West) were held to a .107 hitting percentage.
Senior setter Aidan Knipe was on-point tonight as he dished out 32 assists on his way to leading LBSU to its 15th match of the season in which they hit over .300. When hitting higher than .300, Long Beach is undefeated at 15-0.
Knipe spread the ball around as junior outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis led the way with 11 kills on a .455 attack percentage. Meanwhile, Nathan Harlan and Skyler Varga added nine and eight kills on the night, while DiAeris McRaven recorded five kills on a .444 clip.
Harlan was solid tonight as he tied his career-high with three aces, while adding five digs, two blocks, and one assist.
Defensively, senior libero Mason Briggs logged five digs in the back court and was perfect with 17 errorless receptions.
Senior middle blocker Simon Torwie had another solid outing as he led the team with seven blocks to go along with three kills, two digs, and one ace. Joining Torwie at the net was Varga who finished with four blocks, and Siapanis who added three.
CSUN opened the match with four-straight points to take a quick 4-0 lead on Long Beach. Despite the slow start, the Beach chipped away and stayed in the game. Down 12-10, LBSU scored three-straight points to take its first lead of the game (13-12) capped by a kill from Siapanis. From there, Long Beach State held the lead the rest of the way. The Beach opened up a five-point lead (19-14) after a 4-0 run, before going on to win the set, 25-18.
Riding the momentum from their come-from-behind win in set one, Long Beach State used a 5-1 run to take an 8-6 lead over CSUN in the second set. The Beach would tally four-straight points to open up a 12-7 lead over the Matadors forcing the visitors to call a timeout. An ace from Harlan put the Beach up 20-15 as CSUN utilized its final timeout. The break did little to stop the Beach as they closed the second set on a 4-0 run to win 25-17. LBSU hit .409 in the frame and boasted a sideout percentage of 83%.
The Beach lead the entire third set thanks to an early 5-0 run that would put LBSU up 7-2 over CSUN. Long Beach State strung together another four-consecutive points to extend their lead to seven (21-14). The 4-0 run was highlighted by a triple block from Torwie, Siapanis, and Knipe which forced a CSUN timeout. The Matadors cut the Beach's lead down to four (21-17), but LBSU surged ahead and won the set and match, 25-20, on a kill from Harlan.
BEACH WIN!
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) April 6, 2024
The Beach sweep the Matadors??????#GoBeach pic.twitter.com/A3IX5efpTh
CSUN's Jalen Phillips led the team with nine kills on a .250 hitting percentage, while adding seven digs. Malcolm King added six kills on a .444 clip to go along with three digs. Setter Donovan Constable contributed 20 assists, four digs, three blocks, three kills, and one ace in a well-rounded performance.
Long Beach State and CSUN will face off again tomorrow, April 6 at 6 p.m. in Northridge. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
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