Long Beach State put forth a dominant display in The Walter Pyramid Friday night as they swept the visiting Central State Marauders on their way to improving to 11-1.
LBSU came into the match ranked No. 1 in the nation for the third straight week, but was looking to bounce back from a tough loss against rival UCLA last Saturday.
The Beach opened up set one with a statement, senior outside hitter Nathan Harlan delivered five of his game-high 10 kills in the first set that spurned on a run of six unanswered points for Long Beach to go up 12-3.
Six-foot-five sophomore setter Island Doty was everywhere in set one, as he would have assisted on seven out of 16 kills in the first set and ended the match with a team-high 20 assists.
“We passed the ball really well tonight and that allowed Island the opportunity to run some offense,” head coach Alan Knipe said. “I think he did a good job. He got a lot of guys involved.”
Central State made five service errors throughout set one, bolstering The Beach’s offense that didn’t seem to need the extra help. Long Beach State ultimately took the first set by a whopping margin of 25-10.
The second set was a neck-and-neck race early on, with more tie scores and lead changes than the first and third sets combined, all of those scores coming in the first 10 exchanges.
Long Beach State would then go on a scorching 11-2 run to pull ahead 16-7. The defense was as much of a factor in the second set for The Beach as the offense was in the first.
A series of key blocks and saves kept volleys alive long enough to let the Marauders continue to make mistakes. Seven of the 11 points scored in The Beach’s aforementioned run came courtesy of errors committed by the Marauders.
Senior Mason Briggs set the tone for the Long Beach State’s defense with a team-leading seven digs in the match. The Beach ran away with the lead once they had it and handily won the second set 25-10.
“We were really trying to be good, attention to detail, really intent with the quality of our first contact,” Knipe said.
LBSU carried their momentum into the third set, jumping out to an early lead and opening a 5-2 run.
While coming close to tying it up, the Marauders never achieved it. A service error by Central State sophomore Tyrone Sands saw the tides shift back toward Long Beach, igniting an unanswered 5-0 run to put Long Beach State well ahead 11-5.
It was a special night for redshirt senior middle blocker Aiden Grosz, a Long Beach native who started the game in the stadium he grew up attending.
“It’s always been a dream, being born and raised in Long Beach, to play in front of a Long Beach crowd,” Grosz said. He had six kills in the match, tied for second on the team along with four digs.
The Marauders refused to quit and battled for another six points of their own before kills by Grosz and redshirt junior opposite hitter Nato Dickinson helped boost The Beach to the finish and complete the sweep 25-16.
LBSU looks to continue its success on Saturday, February 17 at 7 p.m. at home against Edward Waters.