It seemed as if the purple mass of Grand Canyon University (GCU) fans were the rowdiest in the Walter Pyramid as their men’s volleyball team nearly ended Long Beach State’s (LBSU) NCAA championship hopes.
LBSU’s 0-2 comeback win, which ended with Sotiris Siapanis’s game-winning spike in overtime, quieted the GCU fans, erupted the arena in cheers and kept Long Beach’s championship run alive.
A Los Angeles college sports rivalry will unfold in Long Beach Saturday as the LBSU men’s volleyball team punched their ticket to the final round of the 2024 NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship tournament.
The Beach will face University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) for the title, as they try to redeem themselves from last year’s 0-3 tournament loss to UCLA in the semifinals.
The No. 2 seed Beach defeated the No. 3 Antelopes 3-2 in a nail-biting semifinal match Thursday night, after losing the first two sets and upsetting the Antelopes in overtime.
Head Coach Alan Knipe led LBSU to its impressive comeback against Matt Werle and GCU. LBSU sophomore opposite hitter Skyler Varga left his mark on every part of the game, leading in scoring with 20 kills and totaling 5 block assists and 8 digs. LBSU’s defense was bolstered by the senior duo of middle blocker Simon Torwie with 9 blocks total, 8 assists and one solo, and libero Mason Briggs with 9 digs.
GCU’s defense put LBSU on its heels in the first two sets. Antelope sophomore middle blocker Cameron Thorne ended the match with 6 block assists, trailed by senior Camden Gianni and senior Rico Wardlow with 5 block assists apiece. Gianni was also the Antelopes’ leading scorer with 17 kills.
Long Beach State senior outside hitter Nathan Harlan leaps up for a block against Grand Canyon University during its NCAA semifinals overtime win on May 2, 2024. (Jonathan Bigall | Signal Tribune) 
Long Beach State fans cheer during the NCAA semifinals overtime win over Grand Canyon University on May 2, 2024. (Jonathan Bigall | Signal Tribune) 
Long Beach State celebrates a point during its comeback overtime win against Grand Canyon State University on May 2, 2024. (Jonathan Bigall | Signal Tribune) 
Long Beach State celebrates a point during its comeback overtime win against Grand Canyon State University on May 2, 2024. (Jonathan Bigall | Signal Tribune)
Although they dropped the first two sets of the night to GCU, LBSU was no pushover as they forced both sets into extra points. The first ended with GCU winning 26-24, and the second with them winning 28-26.
With their season on the line, The Beach found their footing in the third set and dominated the Antelopes 25-18 after cleaning up their play, despite having 21 serving errors in the match. GCU tried to respond in the fourth set, but LBSU found its groove at the right times, responding to each GCU point with poise and winning the fourth in overtime, 25-23.
Through some precise spikes and successful fakes, LBSU earned a quick lead and never wavered in the overtime set, winning 15-10 to uproarious cheers from the Long Beach home crowd whose cheers helped to will LBSU back into the match.
Earlier in the evening, UCLA beat University of California Irvine (UCI) 3-2 in another close overtime win. The championship match between LBSU and UCLA on Saturday will be a contest between the two highest nationally ranked teams in college volleyball, according to the last regular season poll by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, which ranked LBSU No.1 and UCLA No. 2.
Saturday will be a rematch of the two teams’ 2018 championship match, when LBSU won 3-2 against the Bruins at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion.
The NCAA men’s volleyball championship match will begin at 2:10 p.m. on Saturday, May 4 in the Walter Pyramid.
Tickets for the match are sold out online, but standing room only tickets will be sold at the door starting at 1 p.m. Saturday.
