Long Beach State jumped out to an early lead against defending national champion UC Irvine winning the first set but couldn’t hold on losing to the Anteaters 26-30, 30-26, 30-21, 30-26 in the fifth-place game of the Elephant Bar Tournament on Friday.

The Beach (1-2) hit an impressive .486 in the first set edging the Anteaters (2-1) who hit a nearly as impressive .483. The 49ers finished with three more kills to get the early lead. Things steadily went downhill for LBSU as it hit .250 in the second set, .147 in the third set and .138 in the final set.

Sophomore Jim Baughman led Long Beach State with 13 kills, while freshman Dalton Ammerman had 11 kills and an impressive .526 hitting percentage in his first extended action of the season. Senior Dean Bittner added 11 kills but hit just .121 in the loss. Kory Matsukado had 12 digs for the 49ers.

Carson Clark led UC Irvine with 20 kills, while hitting .366. 

Reports From LBSU