Thursday, May 2
Long Beach, Calif.
6:30 PM
Long Beach State University
27-2,9-1Big West
3
vs
2
Grand Canyon
26-5,10-2MPSF
1
2
3
4
5
F
Grand Canyon
26
28
18
23
10
2
Long Beach St.
24
26
25
25
15
3
Photo by: Kat Acosta @photosbyKatAcosta
No. 2 Long Beach State Is Championship Bound After Reverse Sweep Over No. 3 Grand Canyon In the NCAA Semifinals
5/2/2024 11:09:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
A gritty Beach team came from behind for the victory thanks to a .326 attack percentage and 13.5 blocks
LONG BEACH, Calif. – In front of an electric crowd of 3,786, No. 2 Long Beach State turned in a gritty, nail-biting performance to come back and defeat No. 3 Grand Canyon, 3-2 [24-26, 26-28, 25-18, 25-23, 15-10] in reverse sweep fashion on Thursday night at the Walter Pyramid.
The victory extends Long Beach State's home winning streak to 19. The Beach improve to 27-2 on the year and will make their 10th NCAA Championship appearance.
Grand Canyon's historic season comes to a close as the Lopes finish the year with a 16-5 overall record.
LBSU hit .326 on the night to improve to a perfect 21-0 when hitting over .300. The Beach led GCU in almost every statistical category as the Lopes hit .267 in the match. Long Beach led the way in kills (66-60), assists (61-59), aces (7-2), and blocks (13.5-12.0), however Grand Canyon edged LBSU in digs (40-39).
Senior setter Aidan Knipe was phenomenal as he tied his season-best with 52 assists. He contributed on all sides of the ball logging seven digs, while putting up three blocks, and knocking down two kills. Knipe ran a balanced offense as he had two players in double-figure kills and spread the ball around as half a dozen players recorded five or more kills in the match.
Leading the offense was sophomore opposite Skyler Varga who scored a career-high 20 kills on a .293 hitting percentage. Varga was efficient all around adding eight digs, five blocks, two assists, and a service ace.
Joining Varga in double-digits was junior outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis. He hit .250 and recorded 16 kills, while adding five digs, two blocks, two assists, and an ace.
DiAeris McRaven led the Beach with a .583 (9-2-12) attack percentage as he recorded nine kills on the night. Coming in right behind him was Nathan Harlan who posted eight kills on a .500 (8-1-14) clip.
Senior libero Mason Briggs collected 10 digs in the backcourt marking his 43rd career double-figure dig performance. That mark ties Dustin Watten for second all-time at the Beach. Briggs is just one double-figure dig performance away from tying Andrew Sato for the program record.
In addition to his 10 digs, Briggs was perfect logging 29 receptions without committing an error. He also chipped in two assists, as well as a kill.
Leading the blocking defense was senior middle blocker Simon Torwie. The nation's leader in blocks per set put up nine blocks, just one off his career-high. Torwie was efficient offensively as well, hitting .333 with five kills, while serving up three aces.
The match started out close and went back and forth early on. After three-straight points from GCU put the Lopes up 16-15, Long Beach State called a timeout. The two teams continued to battle back-and-forth in the opening frame, fighting off 12 ties. However, a 4-1 run by Grand Canyon sent the Lopes to set point, 24-20. The Beach fought back and tallied four-straight points of their own to even the score at 24-all, forcing a GCU timeout. With the Lopes at set point, 25-24, GCU's Cameron Thorne's kill was called out and the score knotted at 25-25. However, a successful challenge overturned the call and gave Grand Canyon the set one victory, 26-24.
The second set was another tight set that saw nine ties and four lead changes. Both teams were hot offensively as GCU hit .424 and LBSU hit .364. After trading leads early on, Varga knocked down a kill to tie the game at 12-all. However, back-to-back kills from the Lopes would put the visitors back on top, 14-12. GCU held a slight edge over the next few points and led by as many as four (20-16) forcing the Beach to take a timeout. Long Beach take scored three-straight to make it a one-point game (21-20), put Grand Canyon pulled ahead again and sent it to set point (24-22). Not ready to give up, Long Beach State got back-to-back blocks to highlight a 3-0 run that would put the hosts in the driver's seat at set point, 25-24. But the Lopes would not go quietly. After the two teams battled through five set points, GCU took the set, 28-26, and went up 2-0 on the Beach.
Trailing 2-0, Long Beach State found themselves down 9-6 to GCU in the third set. Harlan, a senior outside hitter, came in off the bench and gave the Beach the spark it needed to jump back into the game. Harlan highlighted a 5-0 Long Beach State run with a pair of kills and a solo block, that would put LBSU up 13-11 on GCU. With the Beach back in the game, the crowd got fired up and Long Beach fed off of the energy from LB Nation. LBSU led the rest of the way as Harlan and Siapanis combined for nine of the Beach's 12 kills in the frame. Another 5-0 run from Long Beach gave the hosts a 23-16 advantage before Siapanis put the set away on a kill to give the Beach a 25-18 win.
The momentum shift in the third set was a game changer as Long Beach State won a thrilling deuce set in the fourth. The Beach and the Lopes fought each other through 14 ties and five lead changes in the frame. Grand Canyon evened the score at 20-20 for the final tie of the set, which forced LBSU to call a timeout. The Beach came out of the break and scored three-straight thanks to a solid serving run from Dane Hillis that gave LBSU a 23-20 edge. GCU made it a one-point game, but Long Beach capitalized on a couple of Lopes errors to take the win, 25-23, and force a fifth set.
The Beach controlled the fifth set as they outhit the Lopes .389 to .267. Long Beach got a big block from Knipe and Torwie that gave the squad a three-point (6-3) lead as Grand Canyon took a timeout. The Beach scored three-straight on a Torwie serving run that saw his third ace of the night and culminated in a GCU timeout after the Beach went up 10-6. Coming out of the timeout, Grand Canyon went on a 4-1 run to make it a one-point game (11-10), but that was a close as they'd get. After a kill from Varga, Harlan came in to serve and finished things off on a 4-0 Beach run highlighted by two Siapanis kills which sandwiched a Harlan ace and gave Long Beach State the 15-10 victory.
GCU had four players in double figures as Camden Gianni led the way with 17 kills on a .300 clip. Jarrett Anderson added 16 kills, while Thorne and Jackson Hickman each registered 11. Setter Nicholas Slight posted 50 assists to go along with eight digs, while libero Cooper Herndon logged 14 digs. Thorne and Gianni each put up six blocks, while Rico Wardlow added five.
Long Beach State will face No. 1 UCLA in the NCAA National Championship on Saturday, May 4 at 2:10 p.m., at the Walter Pyramid. The match will be televised on ESPN.
The victory extends Long Beach State's home winning streak to 19. The Beach improve to 27-2 on the year and will make their 10th NCAA Championship appearance.
Grand Canyon's historic season comes to a close as the Lopes finish the year with a 16-5 overall record.
LBSU hit .326 on the night to improve to a perfect 21-0 when hitting over .300. The Beach led GCU in almost every statistical category as the Lopes hit .267 in the match. Long Beach led the way in kills (66-60), assists (61-59), aces (7-2), and blocks (13.5-12.0), however Grand Canyon edged LBSU in digs (40-39).
Senior setter Aidan Knipe was phenomenal as he tied his season-best with 52 assists. He contributed on all sides of the ball logging seven digs, while putting up three blocks, and knocking down two kills. Knipe ran a balanced offense as he had two players in double-figure kills and spread the ball around as half a dozen players recorded five or more kills in the match.
Leading the offense was sophomore opposite Skyler Varga who scored a career-high 20 kills on a .293 hitting percentage. Varga was efficient all around adding eight digs, five blocks, two assists, and a service ace.
A kill from Varga brings the Beach within one (22-21) #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/GqWLKeigV4
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) May 3, 2024
Joining Varga in double-digits was junior outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis. He hit .250 and recorded 16 kills, while adding five digs, two blocks, two assists, and an ace.
DiAeris McRaven led the Beach with a .583 (9-2-12) attack percentage as he recorded nine kills on the night. Coming in right behind him was Nathan Harlan who posted eight kills on a .500 (8-1-14) clip.
Senior libero Mason Briggs collected 10 digs in the backcourt marking his 43rd career double-figure dig performance. That mark ties Dustin Watten for second all-time at the Beach. Briggs is just one double-figure dig performance away from tying Andrew Sato for the program record.
In addition to his 10 digs, Briggs was perfect logging 29 receptions without committing an error. He also chipped in two assists, as well as a kill.
Leading the blocking defense was senior middle blocker Simon Torwie. The nation's leader in blocks per set put up nine blocks, just one off his career-high. Torwie was efficient offensively as well, hitting .333 with five kills, while serving up three aces.
The match started out close and went back and forth early on. After three-straight points from GCU put the Lopes up 16-15, Long Beach State called a timeout. The two teams continued to battle back-and-forth in the opening frame, fighting off 12 ties. However, a 4-1 run by Grand Canyon sent the Lopes to set point, 24-20. The Beach fought back and tallied four-straight points of their own to even the score at 24-all, forcing a GCU timeout. With the Lopes at set point, 25-24, GCU's Cameron Thorne's kill was called out and the score knotted at 25-25. However, a successful challenge overturned the call and gave Grand Canyon the set one victory, 26-24.
The second set was another tight set that saw nine ties and four lead changes. Both teams were hot offensively as GCU hit .424 and LBSU hit .364. After trading leads early on, Varga knocked down a kill to tie the game at 12-all. However, back-to-back kills from the Lopes would put the visitors back on top, 14-12. GCU held a slight edge over the next few points and led by as many as four (20-16) forcing the Beach to take a timeout. Long Beach take scored three-straight to make it a one-point game (21-20), put Grand Canyon pulled ahead again and sent it to set point (24-22). Not ready to give up, Long Beach State got back-to-back blocks to highlight a 3-0 run that would put the hosts in the driver's seat at set point, 25-24. But the Lopes would not go quietly. After the two teams battled through five set points, GCU took the set, 28-26, and went up 2-0 on the Beach.
Trailing 2-0, Long Beach State found themselves down 9-6 to GCU in the third set. Harlan, a senior outside hitter, came in off the bench and gave the Beach the spark it needed to jump back into the game. Harlan highlighted a 5-0 Long Beach State run with a pair of kills and a solo block, that would put LBSU up 13-11 on GCU. With the Beach back in the game, the crowd got fired up and Long Beach fed off of the energy from LB Nation. LBSU led the rest of the way as Harlan and Siapanis combined for nine of the Beach's 12 kills in the frame. Another 5-0 run from Long Beach gave the hosts a 23-16 advantage before Siapanis put the set away on a kill to give the Beach a 25-18 win.
The momentum shift in the third set was a game changer as Long Beach State won a thrilling deuce set in the fourth. The Beach and the Lopes fought each other through 14 ties and five lead changes in the frame. Grand Canyon evened the score at 20-20 for the final tie of the set, which forced LBSU to call a timeout. The Beach came out of the break and scored three-straight thanks to a solid serving run from Dane Hillis that gave LBSU a 23-20 edge. GCU made it a one-point game, but Long Beach capitalized on a couple of Lopes errors to take the win, 25-23, and force a fifth set.
The Beach controlled the fifth set as they outhit the Lopes .389 to .267. Long Beach got a big block from Knipe and Torwie that gave the squad a three-point (6-3) lead as Grand Canyon took a timeout. The Beach scored three-straight on a Torwie serving run that saw his third ace of the night and culminated in a GCU timeout after the Beach went up 10-6. Coming out of the timeout, Grand Canyon went on a 4-1 run to make it a one-point game (11-10), but that was a close as they'd get. After a kill from Varga, Harlan came in to serve and finished things off on a 4-0 Beach run highlighted by two Siapanis kills which sandwiched a Harlan ace and gave Long Beach State the 15-10 victory.
Sotiris Siapanis' big kill wins it for the Beach #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/bxhuhYy7if
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) May 3, 2024
GCU had four players in double figures as Camden Gianni led the way with 17 kills on a .300 clip. Jarrett Anderson added 16 kills, while Thorne and Jackson Hickman each registered 11. Setter Nicholas Slight posted 50 assists to go along with eight digs, while libero Cooper Herndon logged 14 digs. Thorne and Gianni each put up six blocks, while Rico Wardlow added five.
Long Beach State will face No. 1 UCLA in the NCAA National Championship on Saturday, May 4 at 2:10 p.m., at the Walter Pyramid. The match will be televised on ESPN.
Team Stats
GCU
LBSU
Kills
60
66
Errors
24
22
Attempts
135
135
Hitting %
.267
.326
Points
74.0
86.5
Assists
59
61
Aces
2
7
Blocks
12
13.5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
20
Aces
1
Blocks
5
Kills
16
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
8
Aces
1
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
L
/ Men's VolleyballOH/OPP
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's VolleyballOPP
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