Top-Ranked Long Beach Earns Its 12th-Consecutive Win With A Straight-Set Sweep At CSUN

Saturday, April 6

Northridge, Calif.

6:00 p.m.

Long Beach State University

22-1,8-0Big West

CSUN

11-14,2-6Big West

Long Beach St.

CSUN

Top-Ranked Long Beach Earns Its 12th-Consecutive Win With A Straight-Set Sweep At CSUN

4/6/2024 8:20:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score LBSU-CSUN Box Score

The Beach hit .359 as they improved to 8-0 in Big West action

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – No. 1 Long Beach State secured its 12th-consecutive victory and its 13th sweep of the season with a 3-0 [25-23, 25-21, 25-21] win over CSUN on Saturday night on the road.

The Beach (22-1, 8-0 Big West) hit .359 on the night as they cruised through the match against the Matadors (11-14, 2-6 Big West). Should UC Irvine lose tonight against Hawaii, Long Beach State will clinch a share of The Big West title. Should the Anteaters defeat the Bows, it will all come down to next weekend's matches between LBSU and UCI.

Junior outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis led the LBSU offense with 13 kills on a .417 attack percentage, while Skyler Varga and Nathan Harlan added 11 apiece. Siapanis and Varga also served up a pair of aces. Simon Torwie also recorded two aces to go along with three kills, two blocks, and two digs.

Sotiris Siapanis puts the second set away for the Beach #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/pgLr8nzxgA
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) April 7, 2024

Aidan Knipe was efficient distributing 36 assists to go along with three digs, an ace, and one kill.

Defensively, libero Mason Briggs logged eight digs, while DiAeris McRaven, Harlan, and Varga each put up three blocks.

CSUN took an early lead to start the match, but a block assist from McRaven and Harlan tied the game at 10-all. The Beach tallied three-straight points capped by a kill from Siapanis to give Long Beach State its first lead of the game (20-19) forcing the Matadors to call a timeout. Another kill from Siapanis sent the game to set point, before a kill from Varga gave the Beach the first set, 25-23.

Long Beach State took a quick 4-1 lead in the second set and never looked back. The Beach used a pair of 3-0 runs to take a 15-10 lead highlighted by an ace from Siapanis and a solo block from Harlan. LBSU led the entire second set and went on to win 25-21.

Leading 2-0, the Beach broke two early ties in the third set before scoring four-straight on back-to-back kills from Varga to open up a 14-9 advantage. After LBSU extended its lead to six (21-15), CSUN took a timeout. The Matadors came out of the break and scored three-straight to cut the Beach's lead down to three (21-18). But that was as close as CSUN would get as Long Beach surged ahead and won the set and match, 25-21.

Jalen Phillips led the Matadors with 11 kills on a .526 hitting percentage, while Kyle Hobus chipped in nine kills of his own. Donovan Constable and Owen Douphner split setter duties and finished with 15 and 14 assists, respectively.

Long Beach State will face No. 5 UC Irvine on Friday, April 12 at 6 p.m. at the Bren Events Center, before hosting the Anteaters at the Walter Pyramid on Saturday, April 13 at 7 p.m. Both matches will be broadcast live on ESPN+.