Saturday, May 4
Long Beach, Calif.
2:10 PM
Long Beach State University
27-3,9-1Big West
1
vs
3
UCLA
26-5,11-1MPSF
1
2
3
4
F
UCLA
25
25
27
25
3
Long Beach St.
21
20
29
21
1
Photo by: Kat Acosta @photosbyKatAcosta
No. 2 Long Beach State Drops Heartbreaker to No. 1 UCLA In National Championship
5/4/2024 6:43:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
Skyler Varga and Simon Torwie were named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team
LONG BEACH, Calif. – No. 2 Long Beach State dropped a hard-fought, 3-1 [21-25, 20-25, 29-27, 21-25] contest to No. 1 UCLA in the 2024 National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship on Saturday at the Walter Pyramid. The Beach rallied but were unable to overcome a 2-0 deficit as the Bruins claimed their second-straight title.
Long Beach State finished an excellent season with a 27-3 overall record, that saw the Beach garner six AVCA All-Americans, half a dozen All-Big West selections, and advance to the NCAA Championship match for the 10th time in program history. Having reached the NCAA Tournament in seven of the last eight seasons, and the last three-straight years, the Beach squad had much to be proud of.
"It doesn't define what this group has done for our program and for NCAA Volleyball," Long Beach State Head Coach Alan Knipe said. "That's their third straight final four, two-of-three National Championship appearances. The match tonight doesn't define them. The fight of the third set defines them. The three-straight Final Four appearances, the match against Grand Canyon, the reverse sweep against UCLA at UCLA two years ago, that is what defines them. They are champions to me. They are unbelievable a great group of kids – men – on and off the court. And I couldn't be prouder. I could be happier for them, but I absolutely could not be prouder of them."
The Beach and the Bruins (26-5) battled each other through 38 ties and 15 lead changes over four competitive sets.
Sophomore opposite Skyler Varga and senior middle blocker Simon Torwie were named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team for the Beach. Torwie hit a team-leading .571 (8-0-14) in the championship match to go along with three blocks, two digs, and a pair of aces.
Varga recorded 11 kills and five digs tonight, joining junior outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis in double-figures. Siapanis led the team with 12 kills, while adding five digs and two blocks.
Senior setter Aidan Knipe distributed 38 assists, while logging eight digs and four blocks to help on all sides of the ball.
Defensively, senior libero Mason Briggs anchored the defense with seven digs, while dishing out six assists.
The Beach found themselves down, 4-1, to start the match. However, LBSU used its characteristic LB Grit to tally five-straight points highlighted by three Siapanis kills as Long Beach took an 8-6 lead and forced a UCLA timeout. The Bruins used their second timeout after the Beach went back up 12-9 after a block assist from Torwie and Siapanis. UCLA came out of the timeout and went on two 4-0 runs jumping out in front of the Beach, 22-18, forcing two Long Beach State timeouts. The Bruins would go on to take the first set 25-21.
DiAeris McRaven opened the second set for the Beach with a strong kill, but UCLA would quickly turn things around as the Bruins took a 7-2 advantage. Long Beach State utilized its two timeouts early after trailing 12-5. The Beach managed to cut UCLA's lead down to four (12-8), but that was as close as they would come. The Bruins controlled the rest of the set and went up 2-0 after winning 25-20.
Looking for lightening to strike twice, the Beach came out strong in the third set. Long Beach State turned in their highest hitting percentage of .367 in the frame. LBSU and UCLA battled each other through 18 ties and seven lead changes, including five set points.
Seniors Nathan Harlan and Clarke Godbold helped lead the charge in a 4-1 Long Beach State run. Harlan contributed an ace and a kill, while Godbold joined forces with Knipe and McRaven for a big block that saw the Beach take a 15-14 lead that forced UCLA to call a timeout. The Beach went on another 4-1 run to go up 21-19, the Bruins fought back and evened the score at 23-all. After a LBSU timeout, the SoCal foes battled each other through five set points before Long Beach State earned a 29-27 victory on a solo block from McRaven that forced a fourth set.
The two teams battled it out again in the fourth set fighting through 12 ties and five lead changes. The Bruins scored four-straight points to take an 18-15 lead over the Beach. Long Beach State called a timeout to regroup and came back to score three-straight points of their own to tie the game at 18-all. UCLA went up twice more and Long Beach State was quick to counter knotting the game at 20-20 after a kill from Torwie. With the game looking to go in either direction, UCLA took charge and closed the set and match on a 5-1 run, winning 25-21.
UCLA was led by their NCAA All-Tournament selections Merrick McHenry, Andrew Rowan, and Tournament MVP Ethan Champlin. Champlin led all scorers with 15 kills on a .289 clip, while adding a team-best six blocks. McHenry posted 10 kills on an .818 attack percentage (10-1-11), while contributing five blocks, five digs, and one ace. Rowan paced the offense to a .297 hitting percentage as he passed out 46 assists. Cooper Robinson also had a solid night for the Bruins finishing with 12 kills on a .417 attack percentage. Libero Matthew Aziz led the backcourt with nine digs.
Long Beach State finished an excellent season with a 27-3 overall record, that saw the Beach garner six AVCA All-Americans, half a dozen All-Big West selections, and advance to the NCAA Championship match for the 10th time in program history. Having reached the NCAA Tournament in seven of the last eight seasons, and the last three-straight years, the Beach squad had much to be proud of.
"It doesn't define what this group has done for our program and for NCAA Volleyball," Long Beach State Head Coach Alan Knipe said. "That's their third straight final four, two-of-three National Championship appearances. The match tonight doesn't define them. The fight of the third set defines them. The three-straight Final Four appearances, the match against Grand Canyon, the reverse sweep against UCLA at UCLA two years ago, that is what defines them. They are champions to me. They are unbelievable a great group of kids – men – on and off the court. And I couldn't be prouder. I could be happier for them, but I absolutely could not be prouder of them."
The Beach and the Bruins (26-5) battled each other through 38 ties and 15 lead changes over four competitive sets.
Sophomore opposite Skyler Varga and senior middle blocker Simon Torwie were named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team for the Beach. Torwie hit a team-leading .571 (8-0-14) in the championship match to go along with three blocks, two digs, and a pair of aces.
Simon Torwie from the middle!??#GoBeach pic.twitter.com/mJZQFgrPqr
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) May 4, 2024
Varga recorded 11 kills and five digs tonight, joining junior outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis in double-figures. Siapanis led the team with 12 kills, while adding five digs and two blocks.
Senior setter Aidan Knipe distributed 38 assists, while logging eight digs and four blocks to help on all sides of the ball.
Defensively, senior libero Mason Briggs anchored the defense with seven digs, while dishing out six assists.
The Beach found themselves down, 4-1, to start the match. However, LBSU used its characteristic LB Grit to tally five-straight points highlighted by three Siapanis kills as Long Beach took an 8-6 lead and forced a UCLA timeout. The Bruins used their second timeout after the Beach went back up 12-9 after a block assist from Torwie and Siapanis. UCLA came out of the timeout and went on two 4-0 runs jumping out in front of the Beach, 22-18, forcing two Long Beach State timeouts. The Bruins would go on to take the first set 25-21.
DiAeris McRaven opened the second set for the Beach with a strong kill, but UCLA would quickly turn things around as the Bruins took a 7-2 advantage. Long Beach State utilized its two timeouts early after trailing 12-5. The Beach managed to cut UCLA's lead down to four (12-8), but that was as close as they would come. The Bruins controlled the rest of the set and went up 2-0 after winning 25-20.
Looking for lightening to strike twice, the Beach came out strong in the third set. Long Beach State turned in their highest hitting percentage of .367 in the frame. LBSU and UCLA battled each other through 18 ties and seven lead changes, including five set points.
Seniors Nathan Harlan and Clarke Godbold helped lead the charge in a 4-1 Long Beach State run. Harlan contributed an ace and a kill, while Godbold joined forces with Knipe and McRaven for a big block that saw the Beach take a 15-14 lead that forced UCLA to call a timeout. The Beach went on another 4-1 run to go up 21-19, the Bruins fought back and evened the score at 23-all. After a LBSU timeout, the SoCal foes battled each other through five set points before Long Beach State earned a 29-27 victory on a solo block from McRaven that forced a fourth set.
The two teams battled it out again in the fourth set fighting through 12 ties and five lead changes. The Bruins scored four-straight points to take an 18-15 lead over the Beach. Long Beach State called a timeout to regroup and came back to score three-straight points of their own to tie the game at 18-all. UCLA went up twice more and Long Beach State was quick to counter knotting the game at 20-20 after a kill from Torwie. With the game looking to go in either direction, UCLA took charge and closed the set and match on a 5-1 run, winning 25-21.
UCLA was led by their NCAA All-Tournament selections Merrick McHenry, Andrew Rowan, and Tournament MVP Ethan Champlin. Champlin led all scorers with 15 kills on a .289 clip, while adding a team-best six blocks. McHenry posted 10 kills on an .818 attack percentage (10-1-11), while contributing five blocks, five digs, and one ace. Rowan paced the offense to a .297 hitting percentage as he passed out 46 assists. Cooper Robinson also had a solid night for the Bruins finishing with 12 kills on a .417 attack percentage. Libero Matthew Aziz led the backcourt with nine digs.
Team Stats
UCLA
LBSU
Kills
53
48
Errors
18
24
Attempts
118
112
Hitting %
.297
.214
Points
71.5
63.5
Assists
52
44
Aces
6
4
Blocks
12.5
11.5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
9
Aces
1
Blocks
5
Kills
8
Aces
2
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
OH/OPP
/ Men's Volleyball
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/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's VolleyballOPP
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