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The eyes of the volleyball world were on Long Beach and the Walter Pyramid on Saturday afternoon, as Long Beach State took on UCLA for the national championship. The Beach fell behind early against the defending champs, and despite battling back for a gutsy win in the third set, the Bruins capped off a championship performance in the fourth game, winning 25-21, 25-20, 27-29, 25-21.
“It was an amazing environment all tournament long, tonight was two really good teams who had really good season and really talented players,” said LBSU coach Alan Knipe. “This doesn’t define what this group has done for our program and for NCAA volleyball.”
In the rubber match between these two teams, who each won on their home courts earlier in the season, UCLA got out to an impressive 2-0 lead in the match to put the Beach on its heels. Long Beach State hasn’t suffered a sweep at home since 2016 (against UCLA) and Saturday would be no exception.
The Beach battled back in an intense third game, holding off championship point and eventually winning 29-27 to fire up a raucous Long Beach crowd. After the match Knipe was effusive in his praise for the team’s fans this year, which gave the Beach six sellouts and outdrew the school’s men’s basketball team.
However, the Bruins were able to right the ship and hold on for the title, winning their 21st national championship in men’s volleyball and second in a row.
“This is by far the best supported season in Long Beach State history and we really appreciate it,” said Knipe. “The students and everyone who came out love this team…they were absolutely amazing. Our student section was by far the best in college volleyball. They need to know how much the team talked about it and appreciate it.”
The team graduates several players including setter Aidan Knipe and libero Mason Briggs.
“A lot of the sadness and emotion comes from just Long Beach, these guys, the team,” said Briggs. “Just the gratitude for this team and everyone that’s done so much for me and this program.”
The night couldn’t have gone much better for UCLA and head coach John Speraw.
“I think throughout the theme of these stories is we talk about resilience and toughness a lot, they definitely exuded that today,” Speraw said of his team. “This was a hard match, and a well-deserved victory.”
Ethan Champlin led UCLA with 15 kills, and setter Andrew Rowan had 46 assists. Long Beach was led by Sotiris Siapanis’ 12 kills and 11 from Skyler Varga. The Beach hit .214 to UCLA’s .297 and setter Aidan Knipe had 38 assists in the match.
