Men's volleyball finished strong in its first program appearance at the famed Walter Pyramid but ultimately fell 3-0 against No. 1 Long Beach State on Friday.
The Valentine's Day matchup saw the Beach get firm control in the opening two frames, 25-15 and 25-11, with the Lions dropping a tighter third set, 25-22. The first match between the programs ends with VU shifting to 2-4 and LBSU remaining unbeaten at 11-0.
The Blue and Gold hit just .179 (21-11-56) across the three sets while The Beach swung a few beats above their season average for a rate of .492 (40-8-65). LBSU won all the major statistical categories, with the most notable being in service aces (9-3), blocks (7-2) and assists (33-22).
Grant Dvorak clipped double-digit kills for the fourth time this season with a match-high 11 on .350 hitting. Long Beach State's Sebastiano Sani was the only other player in double-figures for kills with 10 total for the match.
What Happened?: First blood went to LBSU, which started on an early 3-0 run. Phinehas Wiley found a kill for VU's first side out point of the night. The outside hitter then set up Brock Henderson for a finish through the middle to make it 5-3 Long Beach State. A 10-3 LBSU run established the bridge between both sides for the rest of the set to launch the score to 15-6. Micah Sybesma tallied two of the next three Lion kills to help plant VU into double-figures for the set, but the Beach pulled away for the first set triumph.
VU was pinned back heavily in the second stanza, going without a service ace and claiming just five kills. Grant Dvorak had the first point of the set, and an LBSU service error made it 4-3 for the home side. Despite another close start, VU's eye-to-eye stint was short-lived as the Beach erupted for a 16-6 run to hold their largest lead of the night at 20-6. The hosts finished the set through a Lions error to win 25-11. VU hit just .118 (5-3-17) to LBSU's .565 (15-2-23).
Set three was sharper from the service line for the Blue and Gold, which earned two of their three total service aces in the period. They also matched pace with LBSU in the major statistical categories with The Beach holding small leads in assists (10-9), aces (3-2) and both teams pulling together five digs.
Long Beach State committed a match-high five attacking errors in the set and surrendered faults early to launch VU into a 6-3 lead. The Beach stomped back with a 5-1 run to take back control, but VU responded with a service ace from Nick Dvorak and a supple swing from Sybesma.
With the power pivoting back and forth in the final frame, kills from Logan Freemon and Grant Dvorak forced an LBSU timeout with the score tied at 17-17. The Beach went on a 4-0 run but surrendered an attacking error to make it 21-18. Despite a 4-0 run that narrowed the deficit to 22-21, VU surrendered the next four points to LBSU as the 2024 NCAA Division I runners-up wrapped up the sweep.
What's Next?: VU welcomes Simpson for its final nonconference match of the month on Thursday, February 20 at 7:00 p.m.
