The Long Beach State men’s volleyball team answered its first defeat of the season on Friday by sweeping Brigham Young University in three sets on Saturday night inside the Walter Pyramid.
Freshmen hitters T.J. DeFalco and Kyle Ensing both reached double digits in kills on Saturday, propelling LBSU (6-1, 3-1) to victory.
The 49ers got off to a lively start in the first set, taking the 25-16 win. Ensing, who finished with 11 kills, said LBSU made it a point to take set one after dropping the first sets in their past two matches.
“We definitely came out real strong to get that first [set] on lock,” Ensing said. “We just kept putting on that little train and getting on it.”
The Cougars (4-2, 2-2) made adjustments and jumped to a 8-4 lead in set two, forcing LBSU head coach Alan Knipe to take a timeout.
BYU extended its lead to 13-8 before the 49ers mounted a run to put them within one point at 14-13. Both teams traded points the rest of the way with LBSU eventually taking the set 25-23 after a huge block by DeFalco and senior middle blocker Taylor Gregory.
Momentum then took a full swing behind the 49ers. LBSU quickly jumped to an 8-4 lead that forced BYU to take a timeout. The 49ers came out of the break and eventually pushed their four-point lead up to nine at 19-10.
The Cougars managed to score four unanswered points, but LBSU was too far ahead and ultimately closed out the final set 25-18.
DeFalco shined once again, finishing with 16 kills, seven digs and three blocks.
Saturday’s sweep was the first by LBSU since its pair of shutouts in the doubleheader against Lindenwood and Sacred Heart on Jan. 8. The 3-0 win was a stark contrast from the previous night’s game.
In a tale of errors, the 49ers saw their undefeated start end Friday after losing to BYU in four sets, 24-26, 25-17, 16-25 and 20-25.
“They got on us physically,” Gregory said. “They’re a big team, they play physical volleyball. We didn’t respond quite early enough and they got on us.”
The second-ranked 49ers had 19 service errors which stymied any momentum they tried to build when No. 3 BYU got a lead.
“If you combine serving errors and hitting errors in the first set we had 14 of them, and we lost a deuce set,” Knipe said. “That changed the match.”
The 49ers had an off night passing as well, which led to freshman setter Josh Tuaniga having trouble connecting with his hitters.
“I think some of [our trouble] was forced into by some of the passes we had,” Knipe said. “ Maybe [it was] some of the recent success of the other guys on the court not killing their ball. But you know there’s a long history of trust there. They definitely had a good read on [Tuaniga].”
DeFalco led the way for the team with 14 kills, with four coming in the third set after the team started to show signs of life.
However, LBSU also didn’t have an answer to BYU’s Jake Langlois, who led the game with 16 kills.
The 49ers return to the court on Wednesday when they visit No. 1 UCLA inside Pauley Pavilion at 7 p.m.