No. 1 Long Beach State, No. 2 Hawaii Roll Late Friday

The top 10 teams held rank on Friday night with No. 1 Long Beach State, No. 2 Hawaii, No. 5 Loyola, No. 8 Lewis, No. 9 Ohio State and No. 10 UC Santa Barbara picking up wins.

Long Beach State moved to 15-0 and earned its first ever Big West victory, while Hawaii cruised to a non-conference sweep of No. 2 Concordia Irvine. UCSB moved to 2-0 in Big West play with a sweep of UC San Diego.

#2 Hawaii def. #12 Concordia-Irvine 3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-21)

• Hawaii moves to 10-2; Concordia falls to 8-7
• Honolulu, Hawaii
• Box Score
• Concordia Recap / Hawaii Recap

Key Stats: Hawaii dominated all facets of the game in the first of two weekend meetings with the Eagles. The Rainbow Warriors hit at a .443 clip and poured on 21 more kills (50-29) in the victory. Hawaii also registered a 6-0 lead in aces and 9-6 lead in blocks. UH hit .531 in the opening set and did not hit below .344 in a stanza on the night.

Stat Leaders: Sophomore outside Austin Matautia and sophomore opposite Rado Parapunov carried the offensive load for the Rainbow Warriors, notching 15 and 11 kills respectively, while each hitting .440 or better. For his part, Matautia also turned in a team-high 10 digs and three aces. Parapunov hit at a team-leading .556 clip and added six digs. Junior middle Dalton Solbrig posted six kills and a team-best four blocks, while junior setter Joe Worsley also put up four stuffs to go with 39 assists and three kills.

Redshirt sophomore outside Raymond Barsemian was the lone Eagle in double-digits with 11 putaways. Junior middle Hunter Howell added six on a team-leading .500 hitting effort to go with a team-high three blocks. Redshirt sophomore outside Parker Maki chipped in five kills.

It Was Over When: Hawaii broke Set 3 open with an 12-2 run, vaulting ahead 17-7 after the early 5-all tie. Matautia notched two kills, two aces and a block in the rally, while Brett Rosenmeier turned in two kills and two blocks. Worsley even notched two kills and a stuff in the stretch. Concordia did not go quietly, however, scoring four straight and seven of the next nine to cut the margin to five at 19-14. Barsemian downed two kills and the Eagles capitalized on three Hawaii miscues. Later trailing 21-14, the Eagles rallied again, slicing the deficit to three at 22-19 with help from a kill and a block by Howell. In the end, two Rosenmeier putaways clinched Hawaii the set and the match at 25-21.

#1 Long Beach State def. #16 Cal State Northridge 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-20)

• Long Beach State moves to 15-0, 1-0 Big West; CSUN falls to 8-6, 0-1 Big West
• Northridge, California
• Box Score
• LBSU Recap / CSUN Recap

Key Stats: A .340 hitting effort, including a .485 clip in the opening stanza, helped lift the 49ers to their 15th straight win and first ever in Big West play. LBSU edged the Matadors 45-38 in kills and 4-3 in aces. CSUN managed 6.5 blocks to 6 for Long Beach State and hit at a .242 clip, but it was not enough. After hitting .406 in the opening set, the Matadors hit just .033 in Set 3.

Stat Leaders: Junior opposite Kyle Ensing tallied 18 kills, while junior outside TJ DeFalco and senior outside Bjarne Huus added 10 and nine respectively to guide the Buckeyes to victory. DeFalco also added a team-best seven digs and three aces, while redshirt junior middle Nick Amado accounted for five kills on a team-high .714 clip to go with a team-leading six blocks.

Senior opposite Arvis Greene was the lone Matador to post double-digit kills, turning in 16 on a .323 hitting effort to go with a team-best eight digs. Junior outside Dimitar Kalchev added eight putaways, while senior middle Josiah Byers and freshman outside Maciej Ptaszynski chipped in five apiece. Byers hit at a team-best .556 clip (5-0-9) and put up a team-high three blocks.

It Was Over When: The Matadors scored four of the first five points in Set 3, including a kill and a block by Greene and a Kalchev ace, and later boasted a 9-7 lead. Long Beach State took advantage of three CSUN miscues to grab an 11-9 edge. After a tie at 11, the 49ers scored four straight, with a solo stuff by Amado and a Simon Anderson ace, to go up 15-11 and take a lead they would hold onto the rest of the way. Northridge cut the margin to one at 17-16 and 19-18, but could not break through. LBSU called timeout and outscored the Matadors 6-2 down the stretch to seal their 12th sweep of the year.

#5 Loyola Chicago def. King 3-1 (25-16, 25-23, 21-25, 25-21)

• Loyola moves to 14-3; King falls to 11-4
• Chicago, Illinois
• Box Score
• Loyola Recap / King Recap

Key Stats: King registered its first set victory over a nationally ranked team in program history, taking Set 3 against No. 5 Loyola, but could not pull off the upset despite owning an 8-5 lead in blocks. The Ramblers boasted a 60-39 lead in kills, a 7-4 advantage in aces and outhit the Tornado .347 to .238 in the victory. Loyola hit nearly .400 in three sets, but struggled to just a .172 effort in a 25-21 Set 3 loss.

Stat Leaders: Four Rambler players posted double-digit kill efforts in the win, led by junior outside Collin Mahan‘s 15 kill, 10 dig double-double and three aces. Senior middle Jeff Jendryk added 12 kills on a team-high .688 hitting effort, while senior outside Ryan Jamison and sophomore middle Kyle Piekarski chipped in 10 putaways apiece. Piekarski put up at a team-high three blocks.

King used just seven players in the match, with six posting at least one kill. Jeff Sprayberry downed 15 kills, while Kiel Bell added 11 to go with a team-leading 13 digs and three blocks. Adrian Besson followed with five kills and five blocks.

It Was Over When: Loyola raced out to a 9-3 lead in Set 4 as five different players notched kills, but King caught up to tie it at 11. Sprayberry notched two kills and Besson tallied two blocks in the rally. A 3-0 run, including a Piekarski kill gave the Ramblers a 14-11 edge and a lead, which they would not relinquish. After trading points, King scored back-to-back points on a Nick Drooker kill and a hitting error, to cut the margin to one at 18-17. Loyola responded with back-to-back putaways by Jamison. The teams split the next eight points, before a Mahan kill wrapped up the 25-21 win.

#8 Lewis def. Lincoln Memorial 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-10)

• Lewis moves to 12-5; Lincoln falls to 6-7
• Romeoville, Illinois
• Box Score
• Lewis Recap / Lincoln Recap

Key Stats: A .421 hitting effort and an 11-3 showing on the block lifted Lewis to a quick sweep. The Flyers hit .385 in Set 1, but managed efforts of .458 and .423 the next two to put the match out of reach. Lincoln Memorial struggled to find its footing, hitting just .041 in the match, posting its best effort, .121, in Set 2. Lewis outdid the Railsplitters 38-26 in kills and 3-1 in aces as well.

Stat Leaders: Redshirt sophomore outside Dalen Instenes and redshirt junior outside Julian Moses posted 10 kills apiece to pace the Flyers. Redshirt junior Jake Walenga added seven kills on a  .538 effort and managed a team-best eight digs, while redshirt junior middle Nick Vander Zanden went 6-for-6 for a perfect 1.000 hitting percentage. Sophomore setter Ryan Van Loo put up five blocks, while Instenes and Vander Zanden added four apiece. Redshirt sophomore Jacob Kerschner served up two of the team’s three aces.

Sophomore opposite Evan Cory put down eight kills to lead Lincoln Memorial, while sophomore middle Pedro Carvalho added seven on a .700 hitting effort (7-0-10). Cory also managed a team-best five digs. Senior outside Joshua Riblett served up the team’s lone ace.

It Was Over When: After a tie at 6-all, Set 3 was nearly all Lewis, beginning with a  4-0 run, including three straight Railsplitter miscues. Lincoln called timeout and scored two out of the break, but could not stop the Flyer onslaught that followed. Lewis scored nine in a row, including three blocks and two kills by Instenes, and two putaways and two stuffs by Vander Zanden. A service error slowed the Flyers momentarily, but Lewis scored six of the final seven points to cap the sweep. Three Lincoln miscues plus a kill and an ace by Kershcner sewed up the 25-10 victory.

#9 Ohio State def. McKendree (RV) 3-1 (24-26, 25-15, 25-23, 25-12)

• Ohio State moves to 12-4, 5-2 MIVA; McKendree falls to 6-9, 3-4 MIVA
• Lebanon, Illinois
• Box Score
• Ohio State Recap / McKendree Recap

Key Stats: After dropping a close first set, Ohio State never trailed, winning three straight to grab the MIVA road win over McKendree. Ohio State hit .250 or better in all four sets, including a .652 effort with just one error in Set 4, en route to a .405 percentage for the night. The Buckeyes also led 64-37 in kills, 9-3 in aces and 7-2 in blocks.

Stat Leaders: Senior outside Maxime Hervoir dropped 20 kills and redshirt freshman opposite Jake Hanes chalked up 18 to lead OSU. Hervoir rounded out a double-double with 10 digs and three blocks, while hitting .548. Hanes pulled up a match-high 13 digs and notched three aces and three blocks. Senior outside Nicolas Szerszen chipped in 11 kills and nine digs. Redshirt junior middle Blake Leeson hit at a team-best .571 clip and put up a team-high three blocks.

Senior outside Jared Wilcox downed 11 kills and put up a team-high two blocks to top the McKendree scorers. Senior outside Nolan Rueter added eight kills and 11 digs, while redshirt senior middle Brendan Schmidt and freshman outside Patrick Ross chipped in seven putdowns apiece. Schmidt hit at a .385 clip and was one of three Bearcats with an ace.

It Was Over When: A 6-0 run put Ohio State on top 9-3 in Set 4. A kill and a block by Nick Laffin and an ace by Hervoir helped the Buckeyes to the advantage. Two Hanes kills pushed the edge to eight at 14-6 forcing McKendree to use its final timeout. A 7-1 run including two Hervoir aces and one by Martin Lallemand made it 23-10 Buckeyes. The Bearcats scored two in a row, but couldn’t stop final putaways by Hanes and Leeson, which clinched the 25-12 win and the match.

#10 UC Santa Barbara def. UC San Diego (RV) 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-20)

• UCSB moves to 7-5, 2-0 Big West; UCSD falls to 8-8, 0-2 Big West
• San Diego, California
• Box Score
• UCSB Recap / UCSD Recap

Key Stats: The Gauchos were just slightly better than the Tritons in every way in a sweep to move to 2-0 in the Big West. UCSB outhit UC San Diego .326 to .244 with help from an 11-6 lead in blocks. UC Santa Barbara also outdid UCSD 41-36 in kills and 5-1 in aces. UC Santa Barbara hit .250 or better in all three sets, including a breakout .452 clip in Set 3.

Stat Leaders: Sophomore middle Keenan Sanders led all hitters with 17 kills on a .517 clip for the Gauchos, while also notching three blocks. Redshirt junior middle Connor Drake (7), junior outside Corey Chavers (6) and sophomore outside Roy McFarland (5) followed offensively. McFarland and Chavers also chipped in two aces apiece. Redshirt sophomore middle Brandon Hopper put up a team-best seven blocks, while sophomore setter Randy DeWeese added six. DeWeese also turned in a double-double with 29 assists and 10 digs.

Senior opposite Tanner Syftestad racked up 16 kills on a .433 hitting effort, while junior outside Nathan Thalken followed with seven putaways on a .583 clip (7-0-12). Senior middle Alec Flowers put up three blocks, while sophomore setter Connor Walbrecht served up the team’s lone ace.

It Was Over When: UC Santa Barbara jumped out to a 9-4 lead in Set 3 and led by at least two points the rest of the night. Three Sanders kills and two by Drake gave the Gauchos the early edge. The Tritons scored three straight including kills by Thalken and Luke Lamont to made it 9-7, but could get no closer. Trailing by five at 18-13, UCSD made another run with four of the next five, capped by a Walbrecht ace to cut the margin to 19-17. The teams split the next six points, before UC Santa Barbara wrapped up the night with a 3-0 run. Chavers downed two kills and DeWeese served up an ace in the final stretch.