Box Score LONG BEACH, Calif. – No. 7 UC Irvine pushed the first two sets to extra points, but could not hold on late and lost to No. 2 Long Beach State 3-0 (28-26, 26-24, 25-14) at the Walter Pyramid Saturday.

UCI goes to 14-9 overall and 2-4 in the Big West, while the Forty-Niners are 21-1 on the year and 6-0 in the Big West.

Long Beach State topped UCI in hitting (.293-.214), blocks (8-6) and ace (5-1).

HEAD COACH DAVID KNIFFIN SAID
"When Joel was playing I think our identity revolved around him and now that he has been out we are developing an identity around playing UCI volleyball. When Joel returns I think we will be a more complete team."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Aaron Koubi led UCI with 11 kills
>Scott Stadick hit .583 with seven kills on 12 attempts and three blocks
>Patrick Sohacki made the start and recorded a career-high five kills to go with three block assists
>Long Beach State's Kyle Ensing had a match-high 13 kills and three aces

TURNING POINTS
FIRST SET
>A Forty-Niner block gave The Beach an 8-4 lead before four straight LBSU errors tied the score at 8-8
>A UCI setting error followed by two aces gave Long Beach a 15-12 lead
>A pair of attack errors by LBSU pulled the Anteaters within 17-16 forcing a Long Beach timeout
>A kill by Scott Stadick and  LBSU attack error tied the set at 20-20
>Long Beach would lead 23-21 and again at 24-22 when a kill by Alexandre Nsakanda was followed by a block by Patrick Sohacki and Aaron Koubi, 24-24
>A kill by Ensing and a UCI attack off the antenna gave Long Beach State the 28-26 victory
>Long Beach won despite hitting .105 (13-9-38) to UCI's .250 (12-5-28)

SECOND SET
>UCI started with a 3-1 lead, which included a kill by Patrick Sohacki
>Another kill by Sohacki and one by Stadick gave UCI a 10-7 advantage
>A dump in the middle by Dante Chakravorti and a Forty-Niner attack error moved the gap to 14-11
>Three consecutive UCI attack errors knotted the set at 14 all
>Following a UCI timeout, a LBSU service error, a kill by Karl Apfelbach and a block by Nsakanda and Sohacki gave UCI the 17-14 lead
>A Johnny Bowles ace got the Anteaters to 20-16
>Three in a row by Long Beach tied the set at 23-23
>A block and kill by Long Beach gave the Forty-Niners the comeback win, 26-24
>Stadick had five kills in six attempts in the set

THIRD SET
>A 6-1 run by Long Beach stretched the Forty-Niner lead to 7-3
>Three Long Beach kills extended the lead to 14-8
>The Anteaters never recovered as LBSU won the set 25-14

NOTES
>UCI leads the Black & Blue Rivalry series 17-14
>Dante Chakravorti led UCI with eight digs and 29 set assists
>Jonny Bowles recorded his sixth ace of the year

UP NEXT
>UCI will travel to CSUN Friday (Apr. 5) for a 7:00 p.m. match at the Matadome.