MPSF Volleyball Results, Feb. 18
Feb. 18, 2017 *Long Beach State 3, UCLA 0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-22)
Recap by LBSULOS ANGELES – The second-ranked Long Beach State men’s volleyball team extended its winning streak to six after knocking off No. 5 UCLA on the road in straight sets (25-20, 25-23, 25-22), marking the Beach’s sixth-consecutive 3-set sweep. With the victory, LBSU improved to 13-2 on the year and 9-1 in the MPSF, while UCLA dropped to 10-6 overall and 7-5 in conference action. For the third straight match, sophomore outside hitter TJ DeFalco led the Beach in kills with 15 as he hit .483 in the contest. Additionally, DeFalco added five digs, one assist, one ace and one block. Sophomore opposite Kyle Ensing also reached double-figures with 11 kills and was just one dig shy of a double-double with nine. He also posted three blocks and once ace. Overall, Long Beach State hit .404 on the match as sophomore setter Josh Tuaniga set the offensive tone with 41 assists in the contest. Long Beach State and UCLA opened the first set exchanging points until Ensing broke the 6-6 tie with a kill. The 49ers would put some room between themselves and the Bruins with a four-point advantage (12-8) as UCLA took a timeout to regroup. The break in action did little to stop the Beach as they extended their lead to five (22-17) forcing UCLA to call for another timeout. LBSU came out of the timeout and kept its steady lead over UCLA as the Beach went on to win the first set, 25-20. In the frame, the 49ers hit .500 (19-4-30), as did the Bruins (13-1-24), but held the sideout advantage 85 percent to 68. The Beach took an early lead in the second set jumping out to a 7-3 lead. However, UCLA stayed diligent in its attack game and slowly chipped away at Long Beach State’s lead until the two teams were deadlocked at 23-23. The 49ers would not let the set slip through their fingers, though, as Bryce Yould slammed down a kill and DeFalco put the game away on a service ace. With the match on the line, UCLA battled Long Beach State in the third set as the two teams traded points early on before the Beach broke a 10-10 tie by rattling off three straight points. The 49ers owned the lead for the rest of the set, although the Bruins came within one point (21-20), Long Beach State put the set and match away after a UCLA service error. In addition to DeFalco and Ensing’s offensive efforts, Long Beach State saw eight kills from Andrew Whitt, who also hit .308 in the match, and seven kills from Yould who boasted a .583 clip (7-0-12). Amir Lugo-Rodriguez tallied four kills on five attempts without committing an error as he hit an impressive .800 in the match. UCLA received a pair of double-figure performances from Daenan Gyimah (13 kills) and Dylan Missry (10 kills). The duo also led at the net with five blocks each. Micha Ma’a and Hagen Smith split setter duties as Ma’a tallied 21 assists, while Smith dished out 13. Ma’a also led the Bruins with seven digs. Long Beach State looks to extend its winning streak to seven on Wednesday, Feb. 22 when it hosts Cal Baptist at 7 p.m. in the Pyramid.
*BYU 3, UC San Diego 0 (27-25, 25-21, 25-22)
Recap by BYU
PROVO, Utah – Behind double-digit kill totals for Jake Langlois and Tim Dobbert, No. 3 BYU men's volleyball swept UC San Diego (27-25, 25-21, 25-22) for the second-straight match Saturday night at the Smith Fieldhouse. "It's good to go through some adversity and stay collected," BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. "There were some bumps, but our guys stayed composed and were able to pull out the win. It was a good opportunity to get some guys experience that they're going to need as we go through the season." Langlois totaled 13 kills and Dobbert recorded 10. Both hit at a .333 clip. Dobbert, Miki Jauhiainen and Joseph Grosh led the Cougars with three blocks each and Wil Stanley had a team-best 27 assists. BYU (12-2, 6-1 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) hit a .276 clip over the course of the match, while UC San Diego (5-9, 2-7 MPSF) had a .262 clip. Unlike Friday night's match, Saturday's three-set contest didn't count as a conference match for the two teams. The Cougars took an early 8-3 lead in the first set thanks to a block and kill on back-to-back points from Dobbert and an ace from Stanley. The Tritons rallied to tie the set several times and take their first two-point lead at 19-17. Consecutive kills from Grosh and Dobbert knotted things up at 20-20, and the set was tied again at 22-22, 24-24 and 25-25. Jauhiainen served an ace and Dobbert and Grosh had a block on set point to give BYU the 27-25 set win. BYU jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the second set before UC San Diego quickly closed the gap. The two teams remained within one point of each other from the time the Cougars led 6-5 until they were up 13-12. With the Tritons again down one point at 16-15, Storm Fa'agata-Tufuga spiked Stanley's set for a kill and a two-point BYU lead. The advantage extended to 19-15 after a pair of UC San Diego errors. The Tritons scored five of the next six points to tie the set at 20-20. Three Langlois kills over the next six points secured a 25-21 win for the Cougars. The first lead for BYU in the third set came on a kill from Grosh to put the Cougars ahead 6-5. He followed that up with a kill and an ace in the next three points to put BYU up 8-6, and a UC San Diego error put the Cougars up three. Later, Zach Eschenberg gave BYU its first six-point lead (15-9) of the night with back-to-back kills. Tanner Skabelund got his first career kill to put the Cougars up 19-13. The Tritons narrowed their deficit to three points a couple of times and then to two points at 24-22. Andrew Lincoln got the final kill of the night to clinch BYU's 25-22 third set and another sweep. BYU travels to take on Stanford on Thursday and Friday next week. Thursday's match will begin at 7 p.m. PST and can be streamed on Pac-12.com.
*Stanford 3, CAL BAPTIST 2 (25-20, 20-25, 17-25, 25-16, 15-11)
Recap by Stanford
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Jordan Ewert and Gabriel Vega combined for 31 of Stanford’s 50 kills in a 25-20, 20-25, 17-25, 25-16, 15-11 win at Cal Baptist, Saturday at Van Dyne Gym. It marked the third time this season in which the sixth-ranked Cardinal (9-5, 6-3 MPSF) rallied back from a deficit to win in five sets. Stanford out hit Cal Baptist .356 to .306, and held advantages in blocks (6.5-5.0) and service aces (7-5). With the match tied 1-1, Cal Baptist (3-11, 1-9 MPSF) won the pivotal third set putting Stanford’s backs up against the figurative wall. The Cardinal limited its offensive errors in the final two sets, while holding the Lancers to a combined .047 hitting percentage. Ewert recorded a team-high 16 kills on .306 hitting to go with five digs, three aces and three blocks. Vega added 15 kills on a season-best .481 attack percentage and a season-high seven digs. Stanford tweaked its lineup in the fourth and fifth sets with freshman Paul Bischoff starting at setter and freshman Eric Beatty replacing Mason Tufuga at opposite. Bischoff, who took over for junior Kyle Dagostino (19 assists), notched 20 assists, two kills, two digs and two blocks, while Beatty hit .750 with six kills on eight errorless swings to go with five digs. Stanford’s middle blockers, redshirt junior Kevin Rakestraw and freshman Stephen Moye, combined for eight kills and six blocks. Junior libero Evan Enriques collected five digs and matched his career-high with five assists. Enriques’ younger brother, Emmett, had two digs, an assist and a kill for the Lancers. Cal Baptist was led by Kevin Vaz, who tallied a match-high 25 kills. Luis Palos chipped in with 11 kills, six digs and three blocks, while Rohit Paul turned in nine kills and 10 digs for the Lancers. Stanford returns to the Farm to play host to No. 3 BYU for a pair of matches next week. The Cardinal and Cougars will square off on Thursday, Feb. 23 in Maples Pavilion and on Friday, Feb. 24 in Burnham Pavilion.
*USC 3, Pepperdine 2 (30-28, 25-12, 22-25, 23-25, 15-10)
Recap by USC
LOS ANGELES—Lucas Yoder had 21 kills, 12 digs, 5 blocks and 2 aces to help the unranked USC men’s volleyball team hang on to upset No. 9 Pepperdine in 5 sets, 30-28, 25-12, 22-25, 23-25, 15-10, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match on Saturday (Feb. 18) at USC’s Galen Center.
USC improved to 5-9 overall and 4-7 in the MPSF. It was the Trojans’ first back-to-back victories of 2017 and both came against Top 10 teams, as Troy swept No. 6 Stanford on Thursday. Last month, USC lost in 5 sets to the Waves .
Pepperdine dropped to 6-5 overall and 4-4 in MPSF play.
Lucas Lossone added 16 kills while hitting .323 for USC, while teammate Andy Benesh had 12 kills (hitting .435) and 7 blocks, Matt Douglas had 18 digs and Ryan Moss had 3 aces.
For Pepperdine, David Wieczorek had 18 kills and 10 blocks, Colby Harriman had 14 kills, Clay Carr had 11 blocks, Mitchell Penning had 8 blocks and Alex Harthaller had 7 digs.
Neither team hit at a high rate, as USC finished at .227 and Pepperdine at .155. USC had 8 aces and 51 digs to the Waves’ 33 and 3, but Pepperdine had 23.5 blocks to Troy’s 9.5.
The Trojans were again without recent junior college transfer Gianluca Grasso, a starting outside hitter who missed his third consecutive match with an ankle sprain.
Pepperdine went on a 7-point run in the first set to go up 14-7, but USC crept back to tie it at 22 and then won it in overtime on a Yoder kill followed by a Moss ace (the Trojans’ fourth ace of the set). USC jumped out to a 9-1 lead in the second set and the Waves were never able to make a dent as Troy hit .350 in the set. The third set was tight until Pepperdine went on a 4-0 run to move up 21-17 and the Waves held off the Trojans while getting 8.0 blocks in the set. USC scored 3 straight points to build a 9-7 lead in the fourth set and Troy built it to 19-16 before Pepperdine tied it at 19-19 and then the Waves scored 3 in a row to go up 23-21, all they needed to finish out the set while adding another 6.0 blocks. USC went on a 4-point run in the fifth set to forge an 11-7 margin and were not threatened the rest of the way (the Trojans hit .529 in the set).
USC next begins a 4-match road trip with a pair of MPSF matches next week, first at No. 14 Cal State Northridge on Wednesday (Feb. 22) and then at No. 2 Long Beach State on Friday (Feb. 24), both starting at 7 p.m. PT.