Long Beach State needed a decisive fifth set to beat an electric Cal Baptist team Thursday night at the Walter Pyramid.
Fourth-ranked LBSU (17-6,13-5 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) came out strong in the match by taking the first two sets 25-20 and 25-17.
After going down midway through set one, 14-16, head coach Alan Knipe called a timeout so that the ‘Niners could re-gather themselves. What followed was an 11-4 run by LBSU that was sparked by blocks from freshman Taylor Gregory.
Gregory had a career-high 11 blocks on the night and often showed passionate fist pumps after each, declaring his presence and helping to ignite his team.
“To me, a stuffed block has always just been the best feeling to scoring a point,” Gregory said. “It’s quick, powerful and gets the fans pumped up too.”
Senior Colton Echave played a major factor in the ‘Niners first two set wins and ended the night hitting .600 with nine kills and two rifled service aces.
Echave was able to make up for a struggling Dalton Ammerman, who couldn’t find a rhythm early on in the match.
“You know it’s going to go wrong eventually, and obviously it did tonight,” Ammerman said.
In sets three and four the 49ers fell well below their hitting average and finished set four with a subpar .103 percent.
CBU (12-12,8-10 MPSF) added to the ‘Niners troubles by penetrating kills through LBSU’s defense.
The Lancers’ Levi Cabral finished with 20 kills on the night and helped CBU tie the match at two sets apiece after winning both sets three and four, 25-23.
LBSU was pushed to a fifth and final set where it was forced to reevaluate its play.
“We weren’t really preparing before each play in sets three and four and didn’t have 100 percent focus,” Ammerman said. “We just had to go back to our system and back to our basics.”
The ‘Niners were able to find their winning form in set five, as they burst out to a 4-0 lead sparked by a Taylor Crabb kill and service ace that quickly shifted the momentum back in his teams favor.
“It started off with our blocking defense, and then I got great sets from Connor [Olbright] that I was able to kill,” said Crabb.
Ammerman was also able to supply LBSU with strong back-to-back kills down the stretch, further distancing the ‘Niners from CBU. Ammerman finished the night with 12 kills and three blocks.
In the end it was fellow power hitter Taylor Crabb performing in the clutch and giving LBSU the match point with his 20th kill of the evening.
Long Beach State will now have their sights set on the number one team in the nation- BYU.
The last time the ‘Niners and Cougars met LBSU was able to upset the top ranked team in Provo, Utah.
Dalton Ammerman had a career night in LBSU’s win over BYU and looks forward to an exciting match on Saturday.
“We finally get to focus on that now. It should be a good match and we’re going to have to prepare to play very tough against those guys,” Ammerman said.
The 49ers will take on BYU in the Gold Mine at 7 p.m. on Saturday night.
