The No. 5 Long Beach State men’s volleyball team swept the unranked University of the Pacific — 25-18, 25-23, 25-19 — on Friday at the Walter Pyramid.
The 49ers (5-3, 4-1 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) were coming off a big win last Friday against No. 4 UCLA, which helped push the LBSU to No. 5 from No. 11 in just two weeks.
Senior middle blocker Antwain Aguillard got started early against the Tigers, notching seven kills on a .700 hitting percentage in the first set alone.
Despite a dominant performance in the first set, the 49ers came out cold in the second and allowed the Tigers (3-4, 0-3 MPSF) to take their first lead of the match. After going down 21-23, interim head coach Andy Read called a crucial timeout to regroup the 49ers.
Junior opposite Jim Baughman rallied the team with four straight kills and the win. Baughman has continuously been at the center of the 49ers’ comebacks this season.
“We could’ve set anyone on our team and anyone would’ve stepped up in that moment,” Baughman said. “That’s the best thing about our team.”
The final set was filled with back-and-forth action until Pacific tied up the set 13-13. The next play led off with a big kill by Aguillard, which would spark a 12-6 run to end the match.
Baughman and Aguillard led LBSU with 12 kills apiece, while junior outside hitter Florian Gornik led the Tigers with 10.
LBSU’s sweep of Pacific was not flawless. The 49ers hit just .175 in their final set and .268 on the night, the lowest percentage in their three-match win streak.
Freshman Taylor Crabb got the start on Friday over Kyle Friend after Crabb’s 10-kill performance last week. Crabb posted eight kills but made six errors for an .091 hitting percentage, but will probably get the start again on Saturday according to Read.
The 49ers, who have won three straight matches, will face the No. 2 Stanford Cardinal Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Walter Pyramid. All three of the 49ers’ losses have come at the hands of teams in the top 4.
“We feel like we’re good out of the middle, good quick attacking,” Read said. “We feel like we’re setting better, and playing better.”
Stanford is coming off its own three-set sweep of conference opponent Cal State Northridge. Stanford and LBSU are currently tied for second in the MPSF with identical 4-1 records behind undefeated No. 1 in both conference and the nation USC.
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