Long Beach State Captures Its Third-Straight Big West Regular Season Title With

With the victory, the Beach improve to 23-2 overall and 9-1 in Big West action. LBSU has clinched the No. 1 seed and a bye into the semifinals of The Big West Championships.

UC Irvine, meanwhile, drops to 18-9 on the year and 7-3 in conference action. As the No. 2 seed in The Big West Championships, the Anteaters also earn a bye into the semifinals.

Senior setter Aidan Knipe led the Beach to a .431 attack percentage as he distributed 36 assists on the night to bring his career total to 3,000. His milestone assist came on the final play of the night as he set up Sotiris Siapanis for the match-winning kill. Knipe becomes just the eighth player in Long Beach State Men’s Volleyball program history to record 3,000 kills.
 

Long Beach State completes the sweep of UC Irvine! BOOM! #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/Zxo9VTO7zY

— Long Beach State Men’s VB (@LBSUMVB) April 14, 2024

In addition to his 36 assists, Knipe also chipped in five digs, two blocks, and one kill. Meanwhile, he spread the ball around helping five players to four or more kills in the match.

Leading the offense for the Beach was Siapanis who concluded the contest with 13 kills on a .409 clip (13-4-22). He also logged four digs, three blocks, and two aces.

Skyler Varga recorded nine kills on a .471 attack percentage (9-1-17), while registering four digs, three blocks, three aces, and one assist. Meanwhile Clarke Godbold added seven kills to go along with three digs, two blocks, and an ace.

At the net, Simon Torwie put up five blocks to go along with four kills on eight attacks without committing an error. He finished the match hitting .500.

The match was close to start out as the Beach and the Anteaters battled each other through 12 ties and two lead changes in the first set. Long Beach State reached set point (24-21) on a kill from Varga, but the Anteaters scored three-straight to even the game at 24-all. After another tie (25-25), the Beach got a kill from Siapanis followed by an ace from Godbold to win the set, 27-25.

Set two began much like the first. The conference foes went back-and-forth between 15 ties and three lead changes. UC Irvine held a 16-15 lead, but the Beach used a 6-1 run to jump out in front 21-17 capped by an ace from Siapanis which forced the Anteaters to call a timeout. The Beach led the rest of the way and put the game away on a Siapanis kill, 25-21.
 

A kill from Sotiris Siapanis gives Long Beach a set 2 win ????#GoBeach pic.twitter.com/MPMoNEo5q0

— Long Beach State Men’s VB (@LBSUMVB) April 14, 2024

Long Beach State controlled the third set as the hosts hit .400 in the frame. The Beach broke a 2-2 tie early in the game and never looked back. An ace from DiAeris McRaven gave the Beach an 11-7 lead as UCI…