MATCH STATS
- #1 Long Beach State def. #10 UC Santa Barbara 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-19)
- Long Beach State moves to 18-0, 3-0 Big West; UCSB falls to 9-6, 2-1 Big West
- Long Beach, California
- Box Score
A balanced and efficient offensive attack drove the ship as Long Beach State continued its school record win streak to 18 matches with a sweep of Big West foe UC Santa Barbara. The teams will meet again on Friday, this time in Santa Barbara.
The 49ers hit at a .390 clip and committed just six hitting errors on the night, as four players turned in seven or more kills. Six aces and six blocks also aided LBSU in the win. For its part, UCSB managed a .189 hitting effort, two blocks and an ace.
Individually, junior opposite Kyle Ensing led the way for the 49ers with 11 kills and five blocks. Freshman middle Simon Anderson and redshirt junior middle Nick Amado added eight kills apiece and junior outside TJ DeFalco notched seven to round out the LBSU offense. Anderson hit at a team-best .533 clip, while Amado and DeFalco each hit over .400. Anderson put up four blocks, while DeFalco served up five of the team’s six aces and chipped in eight digs.
Sophomore middle Keenan Sanders and sophomore outside Roy McFarland both posted double-digit kill efforts for the Gauchos, tallying 11 and 10 respectively. Sanders rounded out a double-double with 10 digs, while hitting at a team-high .267 clip. Sophomore setter Casey McGarry served up UCSB’s lone ace, while four players added a single block.
Long Beach State had an errorless first set offensively, hitting at a .500 clip with 10 kills, while also adding four aces in a 25-17 win. The team also had help from 11 UC Santa Barbara miscues, six hitting errors and five service errors. The 49ers built a quick 10-4 lead as DeFalco turned in two kills and two aces and Amado added a kill and a perfect serve. The teams split the next 10 points, before LBSU managed three in a row with help from two Gaucho miscues to go up 18-9. UCSB pulled to within six, using two Connor Drake putaways and three 49er service errors to make it 23-17. A service error and Ensing putdown wrapped up the Long Beach State win.
The 49ers got off to an early start again in Set 2, this time to the tune of a 9-4 advantage, as UCSB made six errors. The Gauchos chipped away, however, eventually knotting the score at 14 to cap a 10-5 run. Five LBSU miscues and two kills and a block by McFarland buoyed the UC Santa Barbara rally. After ties at 15 and 16, Long Beach State managed nine of the final 12 to seal the 25-19 victory. Two Anderson kills got things started and back to back putaways by Ensing closed out the stanza.
The 49ers had another near error free stanza to close out the match, hitting .448 with just two miscues, in Set 3. UCSB found itself in a 9-3 hole to start the stanza as Long Beach State put up four-straight stuffs, all involving Anderson and three including Ensing. Another stuff by Ensing, combined with Amado, and a DeFalco ace had the 49ers doubled up on the Gauchos at 16-8. Three LBSU errors and two McFarland putaways narrowed the gap to five at 18-13. The teams traded points over the next 12 serves leading to a 24-19 Long Beach lead. Anderson put down the final nail in the 25-19 win.
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