The No. 5-ranked Long Beach State men's volleyball team picked up a crucial win on Senior Night Saturday against Cal State Northridge in straight sets – 25-19, 25-17, 25-23.
Saturday night's contest was pivotal for the 49ers (14-13, 12-10 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation). A win meant that the 49ers would climb to the No. 6 seed in the MPSF tournament to face No. 3 Stanford during the first round of the MPSF postseason tournament.
The 49ers swept the Cardinal during the regular season, including a five-set victory in Palo Alto, Calif.
Senior outside hitter Kyle Friend led the 49ers with eight kills, one service ace, and an impressive 11 block assists.
LBSU's team defense out-blocked CSUN 20.5 to 1.
"We had a good plan with what Northridge wanted to do," LBSU interim head coach Andy Read. "We got across the net blocking. Our guys finished the job tonight."
In honor of the seniors of the LBSU team the starting lineup featured six of the 49ers' veterans.
Starters Antwain Aguillard, Mike Klipsch and Kirk Francis were joined by Friend, Josh Riley and Kory Matsukado were among the LBSU seniors honored.
The veteran 49ers came out on fire, establishing a dominating defense that registered a staggering 6 blocks in the first set alone.
Both teams' attacks, however, were meager at best. CSUN netted a -.062 hitting percentage in the first set, while LBSU held a slightly higher .179 hitting percentage.
The Matadors woke up in the second set exchanging leads with the 49ers throughout the set.
Friend's fifth block of the night sparked a huge 6-0 run by the 49ers that resulted in two-straight timeouts by the Matadors.
The LBSU attack finally caught up with their defense as the 49ers hit 14 kills on an impressive .440 hitting percentage.
After two fantastic sets by LBSU, visions of the previous matchup between these two teams began to resurface.
In a contest in early February, LBSU went up 2-0 after two dominating performances in the first two sets, but a relentless CSUN team would not go down easily.
CSUN strung together three near-perfect sets to take the match, 3-2.
CSUN's junior setter Matt Stork pushed his team to an early lead with two-straight service aces.
The Matadors controlled much of the third set until LBSU strung together a couple of huge blocks that put the 49ers up 17-16.
LBSU would not pull away until a couple of Taylor Crabb kills put the 49ers over the top.
LBSU will now travel to No. 4 Stanford for the first round of the MPSF Postseason Tournament next Saturday. The match is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.
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