The No. 2 Long Beach State men’s volleyball team fought to the end edging No. 11 UC Santa Barbara (8-3, 4-2 MPSF) in five sets, and recording its longest lasting match of the season at two hours and 45 minutes.
Freshmen standouts outside hitter TJ DeFalco and setter Josh Tuaniga recorded season-best performances for the 49ers. DeFalco slammed down 27 kills and Tuaniga registered 63 assists. DeFalco earned his second straight double-double performance, chipping in 14 digs for the 49ers.
Junior libero Andrew Sato finished the night with 13 digs. He is now 92 digs away from earning a spot in the 49ers’ all-time top 10 list.
LBSU (7-2, 4-2) combined for a .301 hitting percentage on the night with 71 total kills and only 22 errors.
Senior middle blocker Taylor Gregory recorded his seventh straight performance with no hitting errors. Gregory leads the MPSF with a .638 hitting percentage on the season so far.
The 49ers were able to hold the Gauchos to a .178 hitting percentage on the night. They also held them to a negative .118 hitting percentage in the first set.
LBSU returns home to the Walter Pyramid for a pair of matches against No. 6 Stanford and No. 8 Pepperdine on Friday at 7 and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., respectively.