The No. 6-seeded Long Beach State men’s volleyball team pulled out a victory for the third time this season Saturday against No. 3 Stanford in a five-set marathon during the quarterfinals of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament – 26-24, 25-27, 25-23, 19-25, 15-13 — in Palo Alto, Calif.
Junior First-Team All-MPSF outside hitter Brad Lawson led the match with 27 kills and only 4 errors on stellar .426 hitting percentage.
However, Lawson’s efforts would not be enough to propel the Cardinal to another sweep through the MPSF tournament like last year.
Freshman outside hitter Taylor Crabb was honored earlier in the week after being named to the All-MPSF Freshman Team, and he backed up that honor by notching another double-double with 19 kills and 12 digs.
The story of the match, however, was the clutch performance of senior Josh Riley.
Riley, who came off the bench Saturday, led LBSU with a double-double as he added 21 kills and 13 digs in the last four sets after sitting out the first frame.
After the game, Riley was also honored with the MPSF Player of the Game Award.
Senior middle blocker Antwain Aguillard had been named to the First-Team All-MPSF earlier in the week, but could not get his offensive game going in the match. Aguillard hit a dismal 5 kills and 8 errors on a -.187 hitting percentage.
Both teams traded blows until the middle of the first set when freshman Eric Mochalski came up with successive block assists to put the Cardinal up 13-10.
The 49ers caught up late on a kill by senior Kyle Friend to tie the set at 17.
LBSU’s 5 blocks in the first set kept them in contention and eventually the win following a set-clinching block from senior Antwain Aguillard and junior Brad Hemmerling.
The Cardinal would not go down quietly, though, starting the second set with back-to-back aces from junior First-Team All-MPSF Brad Lawson.
Stanford’s early second-set run put the lead seemingly out of the 49ers’ hands as the Cardinal stormed out to a 10-3 advantage.
After the deficit, LBSU interim head coach Andy Read opted to take junior Brad Hemmerling out for veteran outside hitter Josh Riley.
Two Riley kills put the 49ers within striking distance in the middle of the second set, and eventually it would be a block by Riley and Aguillard followed by a Riley ace that would even up the set at 17.
The 49ers, with a chance to put the Cardinal on the ropes, went up 24-22 late in the second.
However, the 49ers could not close out the opportunity.
Freshman Steven Irvin came up with two clutch kills to give the Cardinal the set.
In the third set, the LBSU attack began to spark behind freshman Taylor Crabb, Friend and Riley putting them up 15-10.
Lawson continued to lead the Cardinal in third set by leading Stanford all the way back to tie LBSU at 16.
Three straight attack errors by Stanford would put LBSU in an all too familiar position.
Leading 24-21, LBSU once again blew key opportunities to put away Stanford, but unlike the second set, Crabb came up with set-clinching kill to put LBSU up, two-sets-to-one lead.
Mochalski guided Stanford to an early 7-4 lead with an impressive kill and block to open up the set.
Stanford maintained a lead of at least two for the duration of the set and finally sealed the deal on a Riley service error to force the deciding fifth set.
Both teams began the frame by exchanging blow after blow with neither team holding more than a one-point lead until a block by junior Gus Ellis on Aguillard finally put the Cardinal ahead, 11-9.
Crabb would be all that LBSU would need late in the fifth set. Two straight kills by the freshman paired with an uncharacteristic long hit from senior Spencer McLachlin gave the 49ers just enough to edge out a relentless Stanford team.
LBSU must now prepare to face UC Santa Barbara who upset BYU earlier on Saturday. The 49ers are 2-0 against the Gauchos this season.
The two teams will face off on Thursday at USC’s Galen Center in Los Angeles. First serve is scheduled for 5 p.m.
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