Despite a poor showing the night before the No. 9-ranked Long Beach State men’s volleyball team upset No. 4 BYU in five sets Saturday night at Walter Pyramid.
LBSU (11-12, 6-10 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) snapped an eight-match losing streak against the Cougars by defeating BYU, 25-17, 22-25, 23-25, 25-21, 20-18.
The ‘Niners had been having trouble sustaining their early set success as of late, and it seemed like Saturday night was going to be no different after the Beach went down 2-1 in the third set.
Visions of the disappointing loss the night before woke the ‘Niners up enough to come out in the final two sets and split the season series with the Cougars.
LBSU’s balanced attack was outstanding. Each of LBSU’s five attacking starters earned double digit kills, Taylor Crabb (18), Jeff Ornee (13), Brad Hemmerling (11), Srdjan Nadazdin (18), and Ryan Meehan (14).
Crabb’s 18 kills and 10 digs got him his sixth double-double of the season which leads the ‘Niners. Olbright’s 62 assists and 16 digs added another 49er double-double and career highs for him.
“We had a lot of guys play really intelligent volleyball tonight,” LBSU head coach Andy Read said.
Ornee continues to flourish on the defensive side of the ball, registering six block assists following in the footsteps of former All-American Antwain Aguillard.
“Antwain was good,” said Ornee. “I’ve had to step it up to point where I think I can win us games.”
Sophomore Taylor Sander continued his excellent play with a match-high 25 kills and six errors on .358 hitting for BYU.
Freshman Josue Rivera dominated serving with three aces giving him seven in the series against LBSU, matching his total for the season.
Rivera’s 10 kills and 11 digs gave him one of BYU’s double-doubles on the night. The other came from Joe Kauliakamoa who had 60 assists and 11 digs of his own.
The night started off with similar play from Friday after the Beach jumped out to an early lead.
LBSU again forced BYU into seven errors and held them to just .219 hitting. The ‘Niners came up with four blocks, three of which were solos.
Nadazdin had 13 attempts during the first set, en route to a career-high 46, and helped lead the Beach to 13 kills to take an early lead in the match.
BYU came out of the gates looking to stop any momentum LBSU had thought they had gained after the first set.
The second set had 11 tie scores with both teams trying to fight off the other.
Despite what looked like a momentum swinging Ornee and Olbright block to cut the BYU lead to one point late in the second set, the Cougars were able to hold on.
During key possessions for BYU in the third set senior Robb Stowell saw completely open looks after catching the LBSU block off guard. Stowell let both attacks fly out of bounds to give LBSU the tie and then the lead two points later.
LBSU couldn’t hold on after a Crabb service error three and a Sanders ace put BYU up 22-20. That would be all the Cougars need as they took the third set and seemingly the hopes of all LBSU fans for a win.
BYU made sure that if LBSU was going to beat them they were going to have to play the kind of volleyball they had seen in the first set.
LBSU would not disappoint.
After trading sideouts early in the fourth set the ‘Niners put together a three-point run capped by Ornee back-to-back block assists to put the ‘Niners up 10-13.
LBSU again let go of the lead until another three-point run started and ended with Hemmerling kills put the Beach up 18-20.
Down the stretch LBSU called Crabb to close out the set getting three of his 18 kills in LBSU’s 21-25 fourth set win.
LBSU who was only 3-4 in five set matches had just forced the Cougars into a final frame.
The notorious BYU crowd was in full form during the fifth set chanting, “Let’s go Cougars!” drowning out any noise the LBSU fans could make.
BYU fed off their crowd going on a 4-0 run in the middle of the final set to open up a 10-7 lead on LBSU.
“Everyone in the gym knew I was going to [Meehan],” Read said. “And he still said he’s going to get the kill.”
Meehan’s three kills in the final set helped LBSU tie the set back up at 17-17, but a long serve from him retied the set at 18 apiece.
LBSU’s best attacker all season has been Crabb and he showed why in spectacular form at the end of the match.
He sent an off-speed ball deep into BYU territory that caught everyone off guard. Crabb, then followed his last attack with a monster kill right off the BYU block to finally give the ‘Niners a much needed win.
LBSU must now prepare to go to Crabb’s native land of Hawaii where they will face off against No. 12 Hawaii Mar. 30 and 31. Both matches are set to start at 10 p.m. PST.