The Long Beach State men’s volleyball team extended its winning streak the three games as it returned home from Northern California with victories at Stanford (17-25, 25-27, 25-18, 25-18 and 15-11) and Pacific (25-22, 25-12 and 25-16).
Before the team hit the road, head coach Alan Knipe expressed confidence and faith in his players to continue improving to play well. Although Knipe said he knew this weekend’s performance wasn’t his team’s best, he came home satisfied with the results.
“As happy as I am that they showed a lot of character and resilience against Stanford, I wasn’t too excited by the way we played the beginning of the match,” Knipe said. “But after finishing with execution and composure, we got on the bus to Pacific and closed out in three, so it’s a great way to end the weekend.”
At Stanford, LBSU (6-3, 5-3 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) trailed the entire first set, following behind with no less than four points to give the Cardinal a quick 25-17 win.
Resilience was shown in the second set as the 49ers allowed 14 tie scores and six lead changes. They captured the biggest lead of the frame at 13-16, but after a Cardinal (5-4, 2-4 MPSF) kill tied it up for the sixth time at 20-20, neither team went up by more than one. The 49ers survived three set-points until two straight Cardinal kills ended the seesaw battle at 27-25.
A determined LBSU team showed up in the third set as it took an early 11-2 advantage with Connor Olbright’s consistency at the line and Jeff Ornee and Taylor Crabb’s control at the net. The Cardinal couldn’t get closer than within six points of the 49ers throughout the set, allowing them to snatch a comeback after ending the score at 25-18.
The 49ers repeated their success as they ended the fourth set also at 25-18.
Both teams went neck and neck during the decisive fifth set, as there were 10 tie scores and three lead changes. Neither team lead by more than one point until Taylor Crabb scored four straight points to give the 49ers the upper hand at 14-10. An Ornee kill ended the match at 15-11.
Crabb’s match and career-high 29 kills were the most of any MPSF player this season. He added 12 digs for his second straight double-double and hit .324.
Ian Satterfield contributed 13 kills and nine digs while Andrew Sato racked up 13 digs.
Olbright also snatched his second consecutive double-double with 52 assists and a career-high 17 digs.
The 49ers’ carried their success and boost in confidence over to the following night at Pacific (1-8, 0-5 MPSF), where they swept the Tigers in three sets, handing them their eighth consecutive loss of the season.
Satterfield performed almost flawlessly with 13 kills and zero errors, hitting a match-high .565. The Tigers were led by Thomas Hodges, who had 11 kills.
The 49ers will enjoy and use a week off from MPSF games to continue working.
“We’re still learning how to sustain the high energy throughout the match and not have to wait for a surge to get us going,” Knipe said. “It’s still early in the season, so hopefully we’ll get to where we need to be later.”
LBSU’s next match won’t be until Feb. 12 at UCLA.
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