The No. 11 Long Beach State men’s volleyball team dropped a five-set heartbreaker to ninth-ranked UCLA in the third-place match at the Gaucho Invitational on Saturday afternoon.
The 49ers, who finished in fourth place, lost to the Bruins 17-25, 20-25, 25-19, 25-16, 15-13.
In the final set, the two teams traded points until UCLA went up 10-7 on a kill by Jeremy Casebeer. The 49ers came back to take a 12-11 lead on a Kyle Friend kill. After two more tie scores, it was UCLA who prevailed as a Jonathan Bridgeman ace ended the match.
Freshman Taylor Crabb led LBSU with 11 kills, while senior Josh Riley finished with 10. Senior Antwain Aguillard chipped in five kills on .500 hitting. Senior Kory Matsukado added a match-high 10 digs.
The Beach (1-2) pulled ahead late in the first set to claim a 25-17 victory. The two teams traded points early before the 49ers went on a 5-1 run, capped by a Crabb kill, to take a 13-8 lead. UCLA eventually cut the deficit to one and trailed 16-15, but LBSU outscored the Bruins, 9-2, down the stretch as a service error by Nick Vogel ended the set.
The 49ers went on to take set two, 25-20. Once again, LBSU pulled away late in the set with a kill by Crabb giving Long Beach State a 2-0 advantage.
UCLA (2-1) fought back, however, closing out the third set with five unanswered points for the 25-20 win. The 49ers made four consecutive hitting errors, and the Bruins carried the momentum into the fourth frame, running away with the 25-16 victory to force a decisive fifth set.
Casebeer paced the Bruins with 14 points on .346 hitting, while Matt Hanley chipped in 11 kills (.348) and a team-high eight digs.
Long Beach State begins its Mountain Pacific Sports Federation slate next week when it heads to Pepperdine (Jan. 12) and USC (Jan. 14).
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