By Men’s Basketball
Junior Guard, Joel Murray, makes a tough layup against a UC Irvine defender on Jan. 22 at the Pyramid. Photo credit: Jorge Villa
The Beach went 2-0 on the road last week, extending their win streak to six games, and improving their conference record to 5-1. LBSU took down UC Riverside on Jan. 27 68-62, in a game where freshman Aboubacar Traor became the first player in school history to record two games of 20+ rebounds in a career.
LBSU was shorthanded in its game against UC Davis on Jan. 29 as they played without both Joe Hampton and Drew Cobb, who were in COVID-19 Protocol. Despite being without Hampton and Cobb, The Beach was able to beat The Aggies 70-63 with the offensive help of Joel Murray and Collin Slater who scored 19 and 15 points each.
LBSU will play two games at home this week. First, they play CSU Bakersfield at 7 p.m on Thursday before taking on Cal Poly SLO at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Women’s Basketball
Long Beach State senior forward, Maddi Utti, makes a tough shot against UC Davis on Saturday at the Pyramid. Photo credit: Jorge Villa
The Beach split their two-game homestand last week, putting them in a three-way tie for first place in the Big West with UC Irvine and UC San Diego.
LBSU looked dominant in their game against UC Riverside on Jan. 27. The Beach started the game on a 10-0 run and didn’t relinquish their lead the entire game. The Beach’s defense prevented Riverside from getting back into the game.
The Beach would then go on to play UC Davis on Jan. 29 and would experience the exact opposite. Long Beach would get off to a slow start and tried to play catch-up the rest of the game. By halftime, The Aggies led LBSU 35-17. Long Beach started the second half on an 11-0 run to make the game close, but UC Davis responded right back, putting the game away and giving LBSU its first loss at home.
Next up for The Beach is a two-game road trip. LBSU will travel up to take on CSU Bakersfield at 7 p.m. on Thursday and Cal Poly SLO at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Men’s Volleyball
Aidan Knipe setting up for a kill against No. 9 Ohio State Photo credit: Ignacio Cervantes
No. 3 men’s volleyball had a stacked schedule last week, defeating No. 9 Ohio State and losing to No. 4 Penn State.
After dropping their first set to Ohio State in overtime on Friday, The Beach swung the momentum by tightening up the defense and letting their hitters take care of the rest. LBSU took the next three sets to earn a 3-1 comeback win.
No. 4 Penn State’s offense gave LBSU trouble on Saturday night. Both teams started the match slowly, with Penn State taking the first match in overtime and The Beach taking the second set. LBSU took the third set to give them a 2-1 lead, but Penn State broke through The Beach’s defense to force a fifth set. The fifth set started off close, with both teams trading points. However, Penn State took a 6-5 lead and never gave it up, handing The Beach its first loss of the season.
LBSU will take on No. 10 USC at 7 p.m. on Friday in the Walter Pyramid.
Women’s Water Polo
Women’s water polo participated in the Cal Cup Tournament last week, going 1-4 in its contests. The Beach opened up the tournament play with a come from behind 10-9 win over Pacific College on Jan. 29.
The Beach couldn’t find momentum however as they lost their next three games to UC Davis, No. 4 Cal, and No. 8 Fresno State.
The Beach are set to play again in two weeks at the Triton Invitational in La Jolla Calif. Feb. 12-13.
Women’s Tennis
LBSU women’s tennis took on Loyola Marymount in the team’s first duels match in almost two years. However, The Beach fell to The Lions despite taking the doubles points. Loyola was able to secure the win by winning four straight sets.
“We came out very strong today with a solid performance to take the doubles point,” head coach Jenny Hilt-Costello said to LBSU Athletics. “We learned a lot from our singles today and we will be better in our next match because of it.”
The Beach will host UC Davis at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the Rhodes Tennis Center.
