Photo by Jay Metzger, Courtesy of Big West Conference
UC Irvine Falls In Big West Quarterfinals
April 22, 2021 | Men's Volleyball
HONOLULU, Hawaii – UC Irvine ended the season with a 3-0 loss to Long Beach State in the quarterfinals of the Big West Championship at the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
The Beach hit .432 (49-11-88) on their way to a 25-22, 25-19, 25-21 victory. LBSU out-blocked UCI 7.5 to 4.0 and had seven aces to UCI's 1. The Anteaters, who end the season 2-14 overall, could not take advantage of 19 Beach service errors.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Opposite Alexandre Nsakanda led UCI with 11 kills, hitting .429 (11-2-21)
>Outside hitter Joel Schneidmiller added seven kills and three digs
>Middle blocker Scott Stadick hit .800 (4-0-5) with a solo block
>Setter Dylan Zhai totaled 21 set assists and led UCI with five digs
>Long Beach's Spencer Olivier had a match-best 18 kills followed by Ethan Siegfried with 10 kills and three block assists
HEAD COACH DAVID KNIFFIN SAID
"Just ran out of time. And that's not just us, but I liked where we were going last Friday against Hawaii. We scratched the surface of our potential. I'm really proud of our seniors and their impact and fingerprint on this program."
SENIOR JOEL SCHNEIDMILLER
"The difference was the service run. They put service pressure on us."
SENIOR SCOTT STADICK
"I look back with no regrets, I've loved all five years. This year and last year were a little strange with the pandemic, but I can't say enough about UCI, coaches and people that surround this program. Block records are cool, but even cooler are the people I've been surrounded by the last five years and that is something that I will take with me for the rest of my life."
FIRST SET
>The teams would match each other point for point until LBSU would score five straight on three kills by Spencer Olivier plus a Beach ace and block, 15-10
>UCI would climb back in with three of their own, including a kill by Joel Schneidmiller and an ace by Cole Gillis
>UCI would use a Long Beach service error and a kill by Schneudmiller to close within 17-16
>The Beach would open some separation on a kill and consecutive blocks, 20-16
>Trailing 22-18, UCI rallied on two kills by Alexandre Nsakanda and one by Schneidmiller to force a LBSU timeout, 22-21
>The teams would trade points until LBSU would take the final two on a kill and ace, 25-22
>Long Beach had five service errors, but hit .583 (15-1-24). UCI hit .407 (15-4-27)
SECOND SET
>LBSU would jump out to a quick 4-1 lead
>A 5-1 run gave Long Beach a 10-5 lead
>A kill by Akhil Tangutur and a Beach attack error pulled UCI within 13-10
>Two UCI errors gave LBSU the 18-13 advantage
>The teams would side out to give Long Beach a 25-19 win
THIRD SET
>A solo and a block assist by Nsakanda put the Anteaters in front 5-3
>UCI would lead 9-7 before LBSU would out-score the Anteaters 10-3 to move in front 17-12
>A Long Beach service error was followed by a Nsakanda kill to narrow the deficit to 20-18
>UCI wasn't done, using a 5-1 run, including two kills from Nsakanda, to tie it at 21-21.
>Long Beach would score the next four to take the set 25-21 and match 3-0
>The Anteaters hit .077 (8-6-26)
NOTES
>This is the first quarterfinal loss for the Anteaters at a Big West Championship
The Beach hit .432 (49-11-88) on their way to a 25-22, 25-19, 25-21 victory. LBSU out-blocked UCI 7.5 to 4.0 and had seven aces to UCI's 1. The Anteaters, who end the season 2-14 overall, could not take advantage of 19 Beach service errors.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Opposite Alexandre Nsakanda led UCI with 11 kills, hitting .429 (11-2-21)
>Outside hitter Joel Schneidmiller added seven kills and three digs
>Middle blocker Scott Stadick hit .800 (4-0-5) with a solo block
>Setter Dylan Zhai totaled 21 set assists and led UCI with five digs
>Long Beach's Spencer Olivier had a match-best 18 kills followed by Ethan Siegfried with 10 kills and three block assists
HEAD COACH DAVID KNIFFIN SAID
"Just ran out of time. And that's not just us, but I liked where we were going last Friday against Hawaii. We scratched the surface of our potential. I'm really proud of our seniors and their impact and fingerprint on this program."
SENIOR JOEL SCHNEIDMILLER
"The difference was the service run. They put service pressure on us."
SENIOR SCOTT STADICK
"I look back with no regrets, I've loved all five years. This year and last year were a little strange with the pandemic, but I can't say enough about UCI, coaches and people that surround this program. Block records are cool, but even cooler are the people I've been surrounded by the last five years and that is something that I will take with me for the rest of my life."
FIRST SET
>The teams would match each other point for point until LBSU would score five straight on three kills by Spencer Olivier plus a Beach ace and block, 15-10
>UCI would climb back in with three of their own, including a kill by Joel Schneidmiller and an ace by Cole Gillis
>UCI would use a Long Beach service error and a kill by Schneudmiller to close within 17-16
>The Beach would open some separation on a kill and consecutive blocks, 20-16
>Trailing 22-18, UCI rallied on two kills by Alexandre Nsakanda and one by Schneidmiller to force a LBSU timeout, 22-21
>The teams would trade points until LBSU would take the final two on a kill and ace, 25-22
>Long Beach had five service errors, but hit .583 (15-1-24). UCI hit .407 (15-4-27)
SECOND SET
>LBSU would jump out to a quick 4-1 lead
>A 5-1 run gave Long Beach a 10-5 lead
>A kill by Akhil Tangutur and a Beach attack error pulled UCI within 13-10
>Two UCI errors gave LBSU the 18-13 advantage
>The teams would side out to give Long Beach a 25-19 win
THIRD SET
>A solo and a block assist by Nsakanda put the Anteaters in front 5-3
>UCI would lead 9-7 before LBSU would out-score the Anteaters 10-3 to move in front 17-12
>A Long Beach service error was followed by a Nsakanda kill to narrow the deficit to 20-18
>UCI wasn't done, using a 5-1 run, including two kills from Nsakanda, to tie it at 21-21.
>Long Beach would score the next four to take the set 25-21 and match 3-0
>The Anteaters hit .077 (8-6-26)
NOTES
>This is the first quarterfinal loss for the Anteaters at a Big West Championship
Players Mentioned
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