USC @ Long Beach State 1-25-19 MVB

 

This is Middle Blocker/Opposite for USC #13 Kyle Gear

 

The USC @ Long Beach State game is the first home game of their regular season

Dear Readers~


On January 25, 2019 USC traveled down the road to Long Beach so USC men's volleyball team could play the Long Beach State men's volleyball team there in Long Beach, California. The game was at 7 pm Pacific Time at the Walter Pyramid there in Long Beach. With Long Beach State being undefeated all season and USC coming off of their second win in a row, Long Beach State was trying to keep their streak alive and USC wanted a third win in a row. Keep reading to see which team won.

The game was close. The first set ended 25-17 with Long Beach State winning the first set. The second set ended 26-24 with  Long Beach State coming out with the second set win. At the start of the third set, USC knew that  if Long Beach State won the third set the game  would be over. At the end of the third set, the score was 25-19, with USC winning the set and causing a fourth set. The fourth set ended with a similar score at 25-17 with Long Beach State winning the set and the game 3 sets to 1.

Now time for the top athletes of the game. Leading in kills was USC's Ryan Moss, with 14, while TJ DeFalco led Long Beach State with 12 of his own. The leader in aces was Long Beach's Kyle Ensing, with 6 aces of his own. The leader for each team with blocks had a tie at 4. Those two athletes were USC's Sam Lewis and Long Beach State's Simon Andersen. The leader in assists was Long Beach State's Josh Tuaniga, with 35, and USC's Chris Hall, with 29. The athlete with the most digs was Long Beach State's Jordan Molina, with 11, while Matt Douglas led USC with 7.

Don't forget to check out USC's next game against Princeton at the Galen Center with USC as host. That game is on Thursday, January 31st at 7 pm Pacific Time. Long Beach State's next game is at Lindenwood in St. Charles, Missouri on Thursday, January 31st at 5 pm Pacific Time, so make sure to check those games out.

Just a little bonus fact about USC: For those that follow the AVP, you may know of an athlete named Geena Urango. That name may sound familiar because I mentioned her a lot during my blogs during the 2018 AVP season. She's also known for helping do a YouTube video titled "How to jump serve- Beach Volleyball Tutorial" with fellow AVP players Riley and Maddison Mckibbin, or the Mckibbin Brothers for short, so be sure to check that video out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60SWAbKwCws. The point of the story is that Geena, Riley, and Maddison all went to USC.

Left to Right: Maddison McKibbin, Geena Urango, and Riley McKibbin

Just a little bonus fact about Long Beach State: For those that follow professional beach volleyball, either AVP, P1440, or internationally, you may know of an athlete named Taylor Crabb. That name may sound familiar because he was mentioned a lot during the 2018 P1440 Las Vegas and Huntington Beach events in late 2018. He's known for doing many videos with the Mckibbin Brothers. The one I'll be linking down below is the one titled "Beach Volleyball Hitting Footwork by Taylor Crabb" so click the link to check that one out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn8Bx6asNVY.  The point is that Taylor went to Long Beach State.

Left to Right: Maddison Mckibbin, Taylor Crabb, and Riley McKibbin

That concludes my latest blog post of the 2019 NCAA men's indoor volleyball season. Stay tuned for my next blog post and  don't forget to check out some of my other blogs like  NCAA men's indoor volleyball of UCLA @ UCSD or my beach volleyball blogs like The Hague with the results of Alix Klineman and April Ross, The results from the previously mentioned P1440 stops in Huntington Beach or Las Vegas, or my latest chapter of my mad up story. Make sure to mark your calendars for May 3-5, 2019 for the first stop of the 2019 AVP season and also the 2019 NCAA women's beach volleyball season that starts in late February that includes teams like LSU, TCU, FSU, and the 2018 national champs on the beach, UCLA.  Until next time, Miller out


~J. Miller