LBSU men's volleyball team outlasts UC Irvine in regular season finale

IRVINE >> The MPSF conference is always a fight to the finish in men’s volleyball, with most of the top teams in the nation all competing for the championship and jockeying for touament seeding down to the wire. This year was no different, as the Long Beach State men’s volleyball team entered Saturday night with a chance to finish anywhere from second to fourth seed.

The 49ers dug out a fifth-set win in a wild match with Irvine to give themselves the best shot at a good position in the postseason, wiing 22-25, 25-19, 25-22, 13-25, 15-7.

“I certainly don’t think we came out and played with the right amount of energy,” said Long Beach State coach Alan Knipe. “But I’m pleased with the ability to get back on track, especially in that fifth set.”

It was far from the best performance of the year from the No. 5-ranked Long Beach State team, as it hit under .075 in two sets, falling hard in the first and fourth frames. After an early setback, the 49ers looked in control in the second and third, hitting over .380 in both.

In the second set, they trailed 13-9 but used a 12-3 run to tu the tables. The third set was tied 19-19 before a pair of blocks from Amir Lugo-Rodriguez gave Long Beach an edge. The 49ers fell flat on their faces in the fourth set, though, falling behind 10-2 to start and dropping a set that saw them hit .067, with just eight kills and six hitting errors.

Long Beach State blew the doors off the Bren Events Center in the fifth, though, putting together a complete performance and overwhelming the Anteaters, taking a 6-2 lead and cruising to an easy win.

Leaders for Long Beach State were TJ DeFalco (24 kills), Kyle Ensing (14 kills) and Josh Tuaniga (46 assists).

With the win, Long Beach State (23-6, 17-5) will take the No. 3 seed into the MPSF Touament and will likely host Pepperdine on Saturday in the Walter Pyramid for the conference quarterfinals.