LONG BEACH, Calif. – No. 6 UC Irvine struggled offensively as No. 2 Long Beach State beat the Anteaters 3-1 (25-16, 25-22, 25-27, 25-15) at the Walter Pyramid Wednesday.

The Anteaters hit just .106 (40-28-114) for the match, the worst offensive performance of the season.

Outside hitter Thomas Hodges topped UCI with eight kills and two aces. Middle blocker Scott Stadick led UCI with five total blocks, while adding seven kills. Setter Michael Saeta added six kills, 21 set assists, eight digs and two blocks. Reigning National Player of the Week Tamir Hershko and Aaron Koubi each recorded six kills. Koubi, who made his third consecutive start, also had two aces and eight digs. Reid Dominquez provided a spark off the bench with four kills and an ace, while Matthew Younggren totaled three kills and four blocks and Dillon Hoffman had a team-high nine digs.

Kyle Ensign had 14 kills and TJ DeFalco had 12 kills for LBSU.

The Anteaters snap a three-match winning streak and go to 11-9 overall and 8-5 in the MPSF. Long Beach State goes to 16-2 on the year and 16-1 in league action.

Long Beach State started with an early 5-1 lead, including a block after an exciting rally to push the advantage to 14-8. The Anteaters could not recover as the Forty-Niners would win the first set 25-16. UCI struggled offensively, hitting -.087. Four Anteater service errors and four Forty-Niner aces contributed to the loss.

A block by Scott Stadick and Thomas Hodges gave UCI a 13-9 lead in the second set then another block by Aaron Koubi and Matthew Younggren extended the advantage to 15-11. Six UCI errors helped the Forty-Niners tie the set at 18-18. A pair of kills and a block pushed LBSU in front 22-20. Back-to-back UCI errors ended the set, giving Long Beach the 25-22 win.

In the third set, a Koubi serve that trickled over the net for an ace was followed by a Tamir Hershko kill to put UCI in front 9-6. A LBSU service error, a block by Stadick and Dante Chakravorti and an ace by Michael Saeta gave the Anteaters a 14-11 lead. Kills by Stadick and Koubi and an ace by Reid Dominguez extended the advantage to 17-12. A 6-2 run that had four consecutive points by Long Beach narrowed the score to 20-19. A pair of kills by Saeta and one by Dominguez stopped the Forty-Niner momentum, 23-19. A 5-1 run by the Forty-Niners tied the score at 24-24, but a kill by Koubi and a service ace by Stadick earned UCI the 27-25 win.

Long Beach State scored the first six points of the fourth set and never looked back, taking the 25-15 victory. The Forty-Niners closed out the final game hitting .542 to UCI's .087.

Next, UCI travels to CSUN Friday (Mar. 1) at 7:00 p.m. at the Matadome.