Long Beach at the top of their game
Monday night ended on a good note for the Long Beach State men’s volleyball team as the made a clean sweep by defeating guests Alberta. The contest, which was held at Walter Pyramid marked, the closing of the preseason matchups for Long Beach. The score
board showed 3-0 at the end of the game.
All through the first set, the 49ers dominated the court. They did not give any significant advantage to Alberta, who kept panting after the ball. The win was decisive as the 49ers displayed superior skill in the entire set.
The second set started off on the same note as the 49ers were able to bludgeon Alberta by taking a 15-9 lead at the start of the match. However, Long Beach grew too comfortable with the score and started making critical hitting errors. Alberta took the chance
and capitalized on the opportunity by first securing a tie and then taking the lead for themselves.
Long Beach would probably have let the second set slip right out of their hands had it not been for the indispensible performance of senior middle blocker Antwain Aguillard and fellow middle blocker Ryan Meehan. Aguillard stepped up and made a big kill that
helped to ward off a set point by Alberta. This was followed by a block which was assisted expertly by Meehan.
With their confidence restored and lesson learnt, the 49ers were able to give high class performance yet again in the third set, which proved to be the last one of the match. Junior Jim Baughman and freshman Taylor Crabb stood out during this part of the
game. With their combined effort, the 49ers were able to make 8 kills in the final set of the match.
Long Beach’s head coach was not present at the match. He was replaced by Assistant coach John Hawks, who played the part of acting coach during the match. Hawks had words of praise and encouragement for the young player, Crabb.
"Taylor's one of the best volleyball players in the country," Hawks said.
However, the coach also acknowledged the fact that Crabb needs to put in a lot of hard work if he wants to be top of the class and stay there.
Noting Crabb’s hitting percentage of .162, Hawks made the following comments: “We want his attacking numbers to be better.”
Next in line for Long Beach is the UC Santa Barbara Invitational tournament. They will be facing UC Irvine on Friday.
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