No. 8 Long Beach State upset No. 3 UCLA in men’s volleyball action at the Walter Pyramid on Friday night.
After going down 0-2, the 49ers rallied in a 19-25, 22-25, 25-14, 25-20, 15-13, come-from-behind victory. All four of The Beach’s victories have come against top-five nationally-ranked opponents.
LBSU (4-3, 3-1 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) and UCLA (6-2, 1-1 MPSF) had faced each other earlier in the season at the Gaucho Invitational, which also went five sets but the Bruins pulled out that victory.
The 49ers came out weak in the first set, hitting -.067 for the set and committing 11 errors. Visions of the 49ers’ loss to the Trojans earlier in the month danced through fans’ heads as they agonized over their team’s performance.
When asked about his team’s performance in the first set, LBSU interim head coach Andy Read simply said, “I can’t explain it.”
The second set was met with a much better attacking performance by the 49ers (.320), but it wasn’t enough.
Read opted for a different approach in the third set, replacing senior outside hitter Kyle Friend with freshman Taylor Crabb.
“[Crabb] just stepped up,” Read said of the freshman. “He wasn’t intimidated about the moment at all. He lives for the moment.”
Crabb had 11 kills in LBSU’s previous meeting with UCLA and wasted little time in Friday’s match, notching a set-leading five kills and a block assist. Crabb would finish the match with 10 kills on 20 swings with just one error, and a team-leading .450 hitting percentage.
LBSU began showing what it was capable of in the final three sets. The 49ers hit .571, .448, and .375, respectively, while holding their opponent to .130, .226, and .263 — all well below UCLA’s average of .295 going into the night.
No one embodied the change in the 49ers’ play throughout the game more than senior outside hitter Josh Riley.
Riley posted a miserable -.375 hitting percentage with two kills and five errors after the first set, but Read opted to keep him in rather than Friend. By the end of the match, Riley hit .233, racked up 14 kills and committed only two more errors all game.
“It was a huge, giant win for us,” Riley said. “We showed that we have a lot of character.”
Senior setter Mike Klipsch added 46 assists and 10 digs, while teammate Antwain Aguillard chipped in with a match-high nine blocks.
UCLA was led by Jamey Ker’s match-best 20 kills on .485 hitting.
LBSU has another tough week ahead of as it finishes off this homestand. The ‘Niners will face conference opponent Pacific next Friday and have an afternoon appointment with No. 2 Stanford, the defending national champs, the following Saturday.
First serve against the Tigers is scheduled for 7 p.m. The match against the Cardinal will start at 1 p.m.
Disclaimer: The Daily 49er is not responsible for Postings made on www.daily49er.wpengine.com. Persons commenting are solely responsible for Postings made on this website. Persons commenting agree to the Terms of Use of the website. If Postings do not abide by the Rules of Conduct or Posting Regulations as listed in the Postings Policy, the Daily 49er has all rights to delete Postings as it deems necessary. The Daily 49er strongly advises individuals to not abuse their First Amendment rights, and to avoid language suggestive of hate speech. This site also encourages users to make Postings relevant to the article or other Postings.