The Beach (14-1) hit .340 in the game and hit a season-high 12 aces. LBSU's defense was solid, with Veach recording 43 digs and a team total of 15.5 blocks, but held the Nittany Lions (12-4) to a .132 offensive percentage.
junior across the street skyler varga She led Long Beach State with 14 kills and 10 digs for her first double-double finish in college. That night, he hit .444 with four blocks, two assists, and a career-high five aces.
skyler varga Acquired 5 new aces, a new career high ??????????#gobeach pic.twitter.com/GTHrCfMh9l
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) March 2, 2024
Varga plus outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis and clark godbold They also added double-digit kill performances, with Siapanis leading the team with 17 and Godbold chipping in with 12.
Siapanis hit .394 (17 wins, 4 losses, 33 draws) in this game, and also had seven digs, three blocks, two aces, and one assist. Meanwhile, Godbold contributed with four digs, one ace, one block and one assist.
The senior setter was pacing the Beach offense. Aidan Kneipp He recorded 38 assists. Kneipp also contributed to LBSU's defense with seven digs and five blocks.
The senior libero supported the back row with solid defense. mason briggs He had a team-leading 11 digs. Briggs has reached double digits 40 times in his career and led LBSU 63 times.
Advanced middle blocker at the net simon towie He recorded nine blocks with two solo stops and seven block assists.Freshman middle-aged Lazar Buchkov also contributed four blocks on the night.
Long Beach State got off to a strong start with Beach hitting .500 (13-1-24) in the opening frame. Beach went on a 4-0 run to give Penn State a 13-18 lead and never looked back. LBSU held the lead the rest of the way, closing out the set on a 5-1 run with aces from Varga and Siapanis to win 25-17.
Beach broke a 1-1 tie in the second set and led the rest of the set. Long Beach used some small runs to put some distance between themselves and the Nittany Lions.red shirt second year student conor bloom He appeared on serve and his ace opened up a double-digit advantage against PSU (22-11), giving LBSU a 5-0 lead. Beach maintained a commanding lead and won 25-14, improving to 2-0.
Sotiris Siapanis“Beach wins second set with kill” #gobeach pic.twitter.com/YPtYftTG9N
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) March 2, 2024
The third set was much closer than the first two matches. Long Beach State and Penn State battled each other in a back-and-forth affair with 16 ties and four lead changes. Back-to-back kills from Siapanis and Godbold tied the game at 22-all, pushing Penn Seit to set point at 24-23. Beach initially held off the Nittany Lions, but ultimately lost to Penn State, 26-24.
Long Beach State regained momentum in the fourth set. After tying the score twice early, Beach took the lead and held it for the remainder of the match. But the Nittany Lions stayed within range and continued to make things interesting. LBSU began to pull away when Beach scored four straight points to take a 14-9 lead. Siapanis' ace gave Long Beach a 10-point lead (23-13), and the hosts took the set and the match and won 25-14.
John Kerr led the Nittany Lions with 18 kills and a .300 attack percentage. Setter Luke Snyder had 31 assists and libero Ryan Melk had 13 goals.
Long Beach State opens Big West play against the University of California, Santa Barbara on Friday, March 8 at 7 p.m. at Walter Pyramid. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
