The No. 9-ranked Long Beach State men’s volleyball team continued to struggle after being swept by No. 4 BYU Friday night at the Walter Pyramid.
LBSU (10-12, 5-10 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) has lost three straight matches at home and eight straight against BYU after their second straight loss in a sweep, 27-29, 11-25, 16-25.
LBSU’s 11 point performance in the second set is the worst performance in a 25-point set by the ‘Niners all year.
BYU senior opposite Rob Stowell continued his dominance on the offensive side of the ball by leading the match with 14 kills on .346 hitting.
Two-time MPSF Player of the Week Taylor Sander pitched in 13 kills on .333 hitting en route to the Cougar’s rout of LBSU.
Srjdan Nadazdin led the ‘Niners attack with 8 kills but hit only .120. LBSU as a team hit a paltry .174 and continued to struggle offensively, getting out-killed 31-52.
LBSU came out of the gates red hot led by sophomore Jeff Ornee who put the Beach up 3-0 with two early block assists.
The hard fought set went back and forth as both teams traded runs late into the first set. A BYU attack error paired with one of Ornee’s two kills on the night tied the set at 24-24.
Despite LBSU’s valiant effort to pull out to an early opening set win, BYU’s defense proved to be too much for the ‘Niners getting a block to put them away.
The second set was one that the ‘Niners would like to forget entirely.
LBSU’s defense who had seemed to figure out Stowell in the first set, getting him to hit five attack errors in the first set.
Stowell, however, could not be stopped in the second. Stowell ‘s five kills and no errors in the second set led all Cougars during the frame.
LBSU’s offense failed them, as well, in the second stanza, getting only nine kills and committing an atrocious seven errors coming out to a .083 hitting percentage.
BYU continued to prove why they’re ranked so high in the country by dominating LBSU again in the third set.
BYU hit an astounding 18 kills and 4 errors on their way to hitting .452.
LBSU responded with a lackluster effort to cap the night by allowing freshman Josue Rivera ace them twice in the final set, giving the freshman four on the match.
Rivera had seven aces on the season before Friday’s match.