The LBPostSports staff watched the Long Beach State volleyball upset win over No. 3 Cal State Northridge 34-32, 30-25, 23-30, 30-25 Saturday night in the ‘Myd. The ‘Niners (13-13, 10-11 MPSF) took away a clinched spot in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament. We took away something else: this team is impossible not to like.
They’re young, athletic, the perfect amount of goofy, and are led by Long Beach native Dustin Watten. The senior celebrated Senior Night with an amazing line-hugging kill in the third set, but more impressively, led The Beach with 20 digs. He became the first Long Beach State player ever to record 20 or more digs twice in the same season. He also became the third ‘Niner to have 20 or more digs in a pair of matches during his career, joining Rick Acre (1985-86) and Justin Stimpfig (1990-93).
Before the match, Watten was, “just trying not to think. I’ve wanted to play volleyball here since high school, and just realizing it was all over in here. I was just trying to focus because it was hard not to think how much I love being a 49er.”
On the outside, Dean Bittner has been the go-to guy, and when the team needed a lift in the first set, they fed Dino. He finished with 25 kills (.224) to mark the 27th time in his career he has had 20 or more kills.
But it was a team effort to pull away in the second and fourth set, as Josh Riley added 15 kills while the 49ers’ middle blockers, Jim Baughman and Dan Alexander, combined for 17 kills. Alexander hit .467 on 15 swings while Baughman hit .429 on 14 swings. Mike Klipsch handed out 60 assists.
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In the first set, the 49ers fell behind, 12-5, before a huge rally to tie it at 27.
“I think we came out too fired up,” said head coach Alan Knipe, who saw three seniors (Watten, Daniel Fabry, Luke Shea) honored before the game. “Once we settled down and got aggressive we started making plays… the blocks at the net got us going, and that’s flat out hard work. We only have so many substitutions, so it’s hard to see guys like Fabry and Shea, but those guys mean a lot to this team.”
Watten means the most though (“He’s the heart and soul of this team.” –Knipe) and his dig and then an ace by Alexander on consecutive points gave LBSU the 30-29 lead. The Beach eventually won the set on a kill by Alexander. Watten finished the set with nine digs while Klipsch had 17 assists.
LBSU controlled the second set building a six-point lead three times, including at set point, 29-23. After a point by CSUN, Alexander finished off his second straight set with a kill. Long Beach State managed to win the set despite hitting just .158 but the Matadors countered with just a .121 hitting percentage and six service errors. Bittner once again led the 49ers with eight kills on 16 swings (.250), while Klipsch had 15 assists and four digs. Friend chipped in five digs and Watten had three digs.
CSUN took the momentum in the third set dominating the cold-hitting 49ers, who hit just .032 with 10 errors and 11 kills on 31 swings. Riley led the 49ers with five kills and a .500 hitting percentage but both Bittner and Friend hit in the negatives and combined for three kills, all from Bittner.
Long Beach State regained momentum immediately in the fourth set taking the first point on a Bittner ace. They pushed the lead to as many as five three times, the last coming at 19-14. Cal State Northridge fought back cutting the lead to two twice, the last coming at 20-18. LBSU stemmed the rally pushing the lead back to as many as six (26-20) before finishing off the Matadors.
Bittner had seven kills on 13 swings (.462) in the deciding set, while Riley added four and Alexander and Baughman had three each. The Beach finished with four blocks in the set and 11 digs, four from Watten.
Long Beach will go on the road to finish the season, and even though it was Knipe’s last night in the ‘Myd before joining Team USA, he’s got one thing on his mind. “I just want to keep playing, wherever it is. We’re going to keep playing, and that’s all I care about.”
With Reports By LBSU Sports Information Department