Match Stats
- #1 BYU def. #3 Long Beach State 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-21)
- Long Beach State moves to 22-3 (15-2 MPSF); BYU falls to 21-3 (14-2 MPSF)
- Smith Fieldhouse, Provo, Utah
- Attendance: 5,783
- Box Score
After Friday night’s riveting, every-point-counts, nail-biter between the #3 BYU Cougars and #1 Long Beach State Beach men’s volleyball teams, Saturday’s rematch was anything but. The visitors from LBSU rolled to a 3-0 sweep, in spite of a massive crowd for BYU, and guaranteed themselves at least a share of the MPSF regular-season title.
After playing just 4 points at the very end of Friday’s game, BYU junior All-American Ben Patch got more run time on Saturday, playing in 2 sets. He recorded 7 kills on 11 swings for a .455 hitting percentage and also added 4 blocks and 2 block assists. While it was a very efficient night for Patch (and the Cougars as a whole, who hit .303) it wasn’t enough to overcome the precise Long Beach State offense.
LBSU hit .477 in the game, including a whopping .577 on offense that ran through Josh Tuaniga‘s sets (he had 41 assists on the day). BYU also played well when going through setter Leo Durkin (30/54 = .556), but when in out-of-system sets, Long Beach State recovered much better (.308-.190).
“I felt like anytime we had a little lead, Long Beach State responded really well and stayed in it,” BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. “Hats off to them for doing that. We had chances to get going and make a run but didn’t take advantage of it.”
Offense was the name of the day, as neither team did much on defense. LBSU out-blocked BYU 4.5-3.5, while digs were almost even at 25-24.
The Cougars will need their last 2 games of the regular season to realign themselves with Patch’s return. Jake Langlois still led the Cougars with 10 kills (1 error, 25 attacks, .360), but that’s well below the number of opportunities and kills (20 and 44) that he got in the team’s 3-2 win on Friday.
TJ DeFalco had 13 kills , 2 block assists, and an ace for Long Beach State to lead them in scoring with 15 points. Kyle Ensing picked up 10 kills (1 error, 18 total attacks, .500) and 7 digs.
Press Releases
BYU Athletics:
PROVO, Utah – In a rematch of yesterday’s battle, No. 3 BYU men’s volleyball fell in three sets to No. 1 Long Beach State (25-21, 25-22, 25-21) on senior night at the Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday.
“I felt like anytime we had a little lead, Long Beach State responded really well and stayed in it,” BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. “Hats off to them for doing that. We had chances to get going and make a run but didn’t take advantage of it.”
In the fight for first place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, BYU (21-3, 14-2 MPSF) in now in second place behind Long Beach State (22-3, 15-2 MPSF) after this sweep. The Cougars were out-hit .477 to .303 in the match.
On senior night, senior Jake Langlois led the team in kills with 10, along with five digs. Price Jarman hit a .833 clip, hitting 5 for 6. Leo Durkin tallied 30 assists and led the team in digs with six.
The first set was back and forth, neither team gaining a big lead. Jarman scored three of BYU’s first five points, two from kills and one ace, to put the Cougars up 5-4. Following multiple ties and one-point leads for Long Beach State, BYU got back on top after Langlois found the corner down the line, making it 11-10. The 49ers were able to break away, going on a 4-0 run to go up by five, 21-16. However, the Cougars fought back, putting together three straight, two of which were kills from Tim Dobbert, to get within two, 23-21. The comeback fell short as Long Beach State took the first set, 25-21.
Brenden Sander got going in the second set. He notched four kills in the first eight BYU points, including a kill to put the Cougars up 8-7. Despite multiple service errors from the 49ers, the visiting squad led 15-13 at the media timeout. BYU trailed by three until Langlois drilled two-straight kills to get within one, 21-20. Long Beach State held on to the late barrage, winning the second set, 25-22.
After the 49ers jumped out to an early 6-3 lead in the third set, the Cougars got going. They went on an 8-1 run behind a pair of kills from Langlois and Sander. A kill from Ben Patch powered through the block to cap off the run, putting BYU up 11-7. Long Beach State got back in it, scoring four straight to take the 14-13 lead. Back-to-back kills from Patch tied the game at 15-15, but the 49ers started to pull away. At match point, Long Beach State missed the serve to keep the game going, but BYU returned the favor, a service error giving the 49ers the third set and final set, 25-21.
The Cougars are off next week and will return to action on April 6 and 7 at UC Santa Barbara.
LBSU Athletics:
PROVO, Utah – The top-ranked Long Beach State men’s volleyball turned in a hot-hitting performance as the Beach hit .477 as a team Saturday night inside Smith Fieldhouse to complete a three-set sweep over No. 3 BYU by scores of 25-21, 25-22, 25-21.
The Beach win snapped the Cougars’ 15-match winning streak as Long Beach State improved to 22-3 overall and 15-2 in MPSF action, while BYU fell to 21-3 on the year and 14-2 in league play. With the victory, LBSU needs just one more conference win or a BYU league loss to clinch the No. 1 seed and home court advantage in the MPSF Tournament.
Sophomores TJ DeFalco and Kyle Ensing led the offensive attack as DeFalco led all scorers with 13 kills, while Ensing added 10. Ensing was almost perfect as he committed just one attack error in the match as he hit .500 (10-1-18) in the contest.
Ensing also led the Beach with seven digs, while senior libero Andrew Sato added six. Setter Josh Tuaniga paced the Beach offense with 41 assists as Long Beach State posted a .477 (48-7-86) attack percentage on the night.
At the net, senior middle blocker Bryce Yould led the team with three block assists.
The match started off going back-and-forth as the two teams traded points until they found themselves deadlocked at 15-15 in the first set. Yould knocked down a kill to break the tie and spark a 6-1 Beach run as LBSU never looked back. The Beach went on to hit a sizzling .625 (15-0-24) clip in the first set as they did not commit an attack error en route to winning the game, 25-21.
The second set was neck-and-neck throughout. The conference foes battled each other through 16 ties and three lead changes before took a 21-18 lead forcing the Cougars to take a timeout. Following the break in action, BYU cut LBSU’s lead down to one (21-20), but the 49ers would not quit. The Beach extended their lead back up to three (23-20) forcing another Cougars’ timeout, before closing out the second set 25-22.
With a 2-0 set lead over BYU, Long Beach State took an early lead in the third set, going up 7-5. However, BYU would rattle off six straight points to take an 11-7 advantage forcing a Long Beach State timeout. Yould hammered out another kill to put an end to the BYU rally. The two teams continued to fight for the lead and found themselves knotted at 16-16. However, the 49ers would register three straight kills to take a 19-16 advantage that they would not relinquish. The Beach would go on to complete the sweep 25-21.
BYU was led in scoring by Jake Langlois’ 10 kills, while Leo Durkin posted 30 assists and six digs. Miki Jauhiainen recorded three blocks to lead the Cougars.
Long Beach State hosts Concordia on Friday, March 31 in a non-conference contest. First serve is set for 7 p.m. inside the Walter Pyramid.
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