Ian Satterfield knows what it’s like to be summoned upon when Long Beach State is in need of a spark, and he produced that and a whole lot more in a 3-0 win over UC Santa Barbara Friday night.
“That’s the job that you have if you get subbed into a match – hopefully you can upgrade the team,” head coach Alan Knipe said. “He served well and brought some energy to the court and balance that for whatever reason we didn’t have earlier.”
The third-ranked 49ers (13-4,11-3 MPSF) took control of the first set of the night against UC Santa Barbara (7-12, 5-10 MPSF) with kills from juniors Dalton Ammerman and Taylor Crabb. Freshman Taylor Gregory, who finished with a match-high six blocks, then stuffed consecutive UCSB hitters and gave LBSU a 6-2 lead and forced UCSB to take a timeout.
After the timeout UCSB went on a run of its own, but that was interrupted by LBSU’s Colton Echave, who added two kills to put the ‘Niners up 13-8.
LBSU maintained at least a three-point lead up until the end of the set when the Gauchos made a run. With help from kills by Austin Kingi and Miles Evans, UCSB got to within a point of the ‘Niners.
The Gauchos committed their fifth service error of the set with the score at 24-23 and gave LBSU a 1-0 lead in the match.
The ‘Niners started out set number two with a quick kill from Ammerman and a brief lead, but they soon found themselves behind 5-9, as they were plagued with hitting errors and a penalty.
After calling a timeout to refocus his team, Knipe subbed in Satterfield for the first time in the match.
The ‘Niners then went on an 8-6 run that fed into a Satterfield kill that pulled LBSU within three to 14-17.
The next play saw UCSB send a shot out of bounds, forcing the Gauchos into a timeout as its lead shrunk to15-17.
The next two plays saw the momentum drastically shift in favor of LBSU. Satterfield sent a kill knifing past UCSB players, and Taylor Crabb followed by gently tapping a kill to knot the set at 17 all.
The following play saw Crabb drop back to deliver a punishing serve that resulted in an ace and gave LBSU its first lead since the early stages of the set.
After two hits from UCSB sailed out of bounds and gave the ‘Niners a 20-18 lead, Satterfield tallied his third kill of the set by swiping one past UCSB blockers to put LBSU up by three.
“The situation came tonight to give him an opportunity, and he made the most of it,” Knipe said of Satterfield.
The 49ers won the set 25-22 and extend their lead to 2-0 in the match despite hitting under .200 in the set as a team.
Knipe was unsatisfied with his team’s hitting on the night in general.
“I don’t think we connected real well,” he said. “When we set our middles we didn’t really seem to get on it. Even the ones we did hit, they dug, and that pulls your hitting percentage way down.”
Set number three saw LBSU’s best hitting effort of the night, as they struck the ball at a .476 clip. Crabb, Echave and Ammerman added a pair of kills each in the set, while Satterfield capped off a career night by tallying five of his career-high eight kills in the last set.
“We train like this everyday in the gym,” Satterfield said. “One of my favorite quotes is ‘metal sharpens metal.'”
UCSB kept it close in the last set with solid play from Evan Licht, who ended the night with 11 kills, and Miles Evans, who compiled 10 of his own.
The final part of set three saw LBSU running away with the win 25-22. Colton Echave capped off his night with a match-point kill, giving him six kills and five blocks for the game.
“It doesn’t matter who we play next,” Satterfield said. “It’s just about us playing well in practice and getting better as a team.”
LBSU will take on UC San Diego for the second game of a lengthy eight-game home stand on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.