LONG BEACH, Calif. – No. 2 Long Beach State’s strength at the service line proved too much for No. 16 Penn State as The Beach recorded a sweep (26-24, 25-18, 25-19) in a non-conference men’s volleyball match Saturday night at the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid. The Nittany Lions dropped to 11-5 overall as their seven-match winning streak came to an end, while The Beach improved to 12-2.
Long Beach State, which entered the match as the best team in the nation in aces/set, racked up 13 against Penn State. Jackson Cryst led the way with five, while Alex Kandev, Braedon Marquardt, and Wojciech Gajek all had two apiece.
Penn State received a strong performance from Sean Harvey in a loss to the defending national champion. Harvey hit .312 while matching Matthew Luoma with a team-high seven kills. Owen Rose, who ranks second in the nation in blocks/set, totaled six over three sets against The Beach, including three solo.
Set 1
Penn State came up just short in a 26-24 loss in the most competitive set of the night. The Nittany Lions trailed 11-6 but battled back from the five-point deficit to take a 14-13 lead after a block by Rose and Jaidyn Bethel capped a 3-0 run. They later used another 3-0 run to tie the score at 20-all, getting kills from Tristan Hassell and Harvey during that stretch. Facing set point, Luoma came through with a kill to make it 24-24. Long Beach State followed with back-to-back points to end the set, scoring on a kill and an ace by Kandev.
Set 2
Long Beach State took a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-18 win in set two. Penn State used a 3-0 run to tie the score at 15-all midway through the set. Bethel and Luoma had kills during the run. It was all The Beach after that as it pulled away with a 6-0 run on its way to the seven-point win.
Set 3
The final set was again close for most of the way until Long Beach State pulled away and posted the 25-19 win. Penn State was down just one point at 19-18 following a service error. The Beach then closed the match with six of the next seven points. The match fittingly ended on an ace by Cryst.
Career Highs
Matthew Luoma – digs (9)
Bennett Wilson – digs (4)
Up Next
No. 16 Penn State continues its west coast trip with a match at No. 7 Pepperdine on Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET. The Waves are 11-4 overall following a 3-1 loss to No. 3 Hawaii in their most recent match.