Men's Sports, Men's Volleyball, Sports

Long Beach State loses two of three after early success

Expectations for the Long Beach State men’s volleyball team started high, as the 49ers were ranked fourth in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division I-II Preseason Poll and were picked to tie for first in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Preseason Coaches’ Poll.

Eyes remained on the 49ers as they kicked off the new year, winning seven consecutive matches before claiming victory in their first official match of the season against Harvard at the UCSB Asics Invitational championship showdown.

Although undefeated for almost two weeks, the 49ers (3-2, 2-2 MPSF) struggled to prolong the winning streak after suffering two losses in their last three games.

LBSU hit the road for their first conference match and swept Cal Baptist 3-0. Two days later in Utah, the top-ranked 49ers endured their first loss of the season to the defending MPSF champions and 2013 NCAA finalists, BYU, with ending scores of 25-20, 23-25, 25-20 and 25-20.

Senior Taylor Crabb led the 49ers with a season and team-high 22 kills while sophomore Andrew Whitt contributed a career-best 10 kills. Senior Ian Satterfield and sophomore Taylor Gregory each put out eight kills.

LBSU played without starting outside Dalton Ammerman after he suffered an ankle sprain early in the match.

Taylor Sanders carried the Cougars (4-2, 4-0 MPSF) with the night’s only double-double with a match-high 24 kills and 11 digs. LBSU hit a .206 while BYU hit a .336 and out-blocked the 49ers 11 to 6.5.

A week later, LBSU travelled to the Aloha State to play back-to-back MPSF contests against Hawaii. The 49ers were able to redeem themselves with a sweep against the Warriors the first night with Crabb leading with 12 kills and Satterfield contributing eight with no hitting errors.

But the 49ers fell in five sets the following night in front of nearly 3,000 people, ending with scores of 25-23, 19-25, 19-25, 27-25 and 15-8.

Crabb paced the 49ers with 22 kills and 10 digs while Satterfield obtained his first season double-double with 10 kills and a career-best 12 digs.
Ammerman was back on his feet from his ankle injury with 10 kills while Gregory scored a team-high seven blocks.

Brook Sedore led the Warriors (3-2, 1-1 MPSF) with 24 kills and 11 digs while Kolby Kanetake took the match-high 15 digs.

The 49ers dropped from first to sixth place in MPSF standings and are tied with Hawaii while BYU moves up to No.8 and steadily holds first place with the most conference wins.
The 49ers will host their home opener against No. 5 Southern California on Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. in the Walter Pyramid.

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