#8 Long Beach State Tops IPFW, 3-0 in Active Ankle Tournament
LONG BEACH, Calif. – In the first round of the Active
Ankle Tournament, #8 Long Beach State came out attacking in the
first frame, and totaled a game-high .473 hitting-percentage to
down IPFW 3-0 Friday evening in Long Beach, Calif.
The loss snaps a three-game IPFW winning-streak, and moves the
team's overall record to 10-7 (2-2 MIVA). Long Beach State improves
to 10-8 with the win. The 49ers are now 19-3 all-time against the
Mastodons.
A block from Ivan
Matos and Corey
Frain, along with a kill from Elon
Fyfield, brought the score to 4-4 early in the first set.
Long Beach State gained the lead at 5-4, then increased it to as
many as seven at 21-14, as 49er John La Rusch led with five kills.
After an IPFW timeout, Frain and Fyfield each blasted a kill to cut
the deficit to five, but late points from La Rusch guided Long
State Beach to a first set win, 25-18.
Two kills from Frain and one each from Matos and Fyfield opened the
IPFW scoring in frame two, bringing the tally to 7-7. Following
another Matos point, the 49ers jumped started their offense, and
took the lead at 13-10, forcing an IPFW timeout. Out of the break,
led by an Eddie
Rivera kill, the Mastodons marched back and tied the game
at 16-16. The teams traded points, before Long Beach State pulled
ahead 22-20, and finished strong with a kill from La Rusch to win
set two, 25-23.
In the third set, IPFW fell behind early 10-5, as the 49er offense
picked up its attack. Kills from Fyfield and Ramon
Burgos gave the Mastodons momentum, but the home team
continued its consistent play to hold its five-point lead to 18-13.
The 49ers carried the lead to set point at 24-17, when Fyfield
committed a service error to seal the win for Long Beach State,
25-17.
Fyfield led the 'Dons with 12 kills and four digs. Adam Qunn
totaled 34 assists and two blocks, while E. Rivera had seven kills.
The Mastodons managed 39 team kills on 86 attempts, recording a
.294 hitting-percentage.
IPFW will return to the court tomorrow evening to face Cal Baptist
in the final match of the Ankle Active Tournament. Match time is
scheduled for 8:00 p.m. EST.
