The No. 5-ranked Long Beach State men’s volleyball team earned a much-needed win in four sets Saturday night when it knocked off No. 11 UC San Diego at the Walter Pyramid – 25-17, 21-25, 17-25, 20-25.
LBSU (13-13, 11-10 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) was led by freshman outside hitter Taylor Crabb who hammered home 13 kills and four errors for a .360 hitting percentage. Crabb also registered 12 digs for his second consecutive double-double this season.
LBSU Interim head coach Andy Read sent in yet another lineup change as he gave sophomore outside hitter Dalton Ammerman his first start of the season.
Despite a slow start, the 49ers were able to come out and finish a tough UCSD team (9-19, 5-16 MPSF).
“A good team comes out and plays well start to finish,” said Read. “We didn’t do that tonight.”
The first set of a crucial Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match for LBSU was close until a 6-0 run by UCSD.
The Tritons’ defense held the 49ers to seven kills and nine errors on a paltry -.080 hitting percentage in the first set, all while hammering down five 1/2 blocks.
Junior middle blocker Ryan Meehan would provide just the spark the 49ers would need early on in the second set. After recording his first kill of the match, Meehan’s serves sparked a 5-0 run for LBSU.
UCSD would cut the 49ers lead to two midway through the second set, but back-to-back blocks would stuff the Triton run and put the 49ers back on top by five.
The Beach later followed up with two clutch kills by Ammerman to put away UCSD in the second set.
The 49ers’ hitting performance increased drastically in the second set as they put up 13 kills and just three errors for an impressive .357 clip for the match.
The third set was more of the 49ers as the Tritons were unable to answer their off-speed attack allowing four straight kills that fell just short of UCSD’s back row.
LBSU increased its attack performance from the previous set by notching a staggering 17 kills and five errors on a .414 hitting percentage.
The fourth set began with a 4-0 run by LBSU, which later committed a couple crucial mistakes to leave the Tritons down, 19-15 — the closest score of the set.
UCSD closed the gap further after a controversial call late in the fourth set brought it to within two — 20-22.
The blocking presence of senior middle blocker Antwain Aguillard, however, proved to be too much for the Tritons to handle. Aguillard paired back-to-back blocks to close out the match for the 49ers.
Junior opposite Jim Baughman, who leads the team in kills, was out for the match due to flu symptoms.
LBSU will return to action at 7 p.m. next Saturday on Senior Night at the Walter Pyramid against an unranked Cal State Northridge team. Aguillard, Kyle Friend, Kirk Francis, Mike Klipsch, Kory Matsukado and Josh Riley will all suit up for their final home match of their careers. CSUN upset the 49ers the last time both schools met in five sets.
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