The No. 11-ranked Long Beach State men’s volleyball team avenged a loss earlier on in the season by sweeping the No. 10-ranked Cal State Northridge team in three sets 25-16, 26-19, 25-20 Friday night at Walter Pyramid.
Friday’s win was the first for LBSU (5-4, 1-3 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) in conference all season and extends their winning streak to three games.
The ‘Niners continue to dominate on the defensive side of the ball by posting their third straight game with 7 or more blocks.
Senior outside hitter Brad Hemmerling led LBSU’s attack. Hemmerling posted 13 kills on .360 hitting percentage, 2 service aces and 5 block assists.
Junior middle block Ryan Meehan led the ‘Niners with 3 service aces adding to a team season- high of 10.
In their last matchup freshman opposite Julius Hoefer posted a staggering 21 kills on .286 hitting percentage, 3 aces and 6 block assists. In Friday’s match up Hoefer led the Matadors with only 7 kills on a measly .053 hitting percentage, 1 ace and no block assists.
LBSU dominated the first set behind sophomore outside hitter Taylor Crabb’s 6 kills in the first set. Crabb’s attack speeds ranged from a blisteringly fast straight down kill to soft, off-speed balls that found the floor just as easily.
CSUN would not go down quietly, however, as the second set saw resurgence from the Matador’s offense. After being held to only 5 kills in the first set, CSUN came back with 11 in the second set.
The Matadors were able to comeback from a 7-point deficit and tie the score up late in the second set.
That’s when Crabb took matters into his own hands, not allowing LBSU drop a crucial set. After CSUN tied the score 19-19 Crabb posted 2 kills and 2 service aces to put Matadors down 2-0.
The third set was another battle featuring 11 tie scores. 0Crabb would cap off an impressive win by the ‘Niners with a block with fellow sophomore Jeff Ornee.
LBSU must now prepare for a difficult rest of the homestand that includes No. 7-ranked Stanford, No. 12-ranked Pacific, No. 3-ranked UCLA, and No.-15 UC Santa Barbara, all of whom are conference opponents.
LBSU will take on Stanford February 10 at 7 p.m. on Friday. The ‘Niners swept the Cardinal last season by winning all 3 matches the two played against each other including an upset at Palo Alto during the MPSF Tournament that knocked Stanford out of contention for the National Championship.
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