LONG BEACH, Calif. – Long Beach State showed why it was ranked No. 1 in the nation, Friday, sweeping No. 8 Stanford, 25-18, 25-13, 25-14, at Walter Pyramid.
Long Beach State (16-0) remains undefeated on the season, having dropped just one set all year. Stanford falls to 12-7.
The Beach hit .655 in the match – the highest by a Cardinal opponent this season. The Cardinal was held to a .230 clip and falls to 1-7 on the season when being outhit by its opponent.
Senior outside hitter Jordan Ewert led Stanford with a seven kills on .357 hitting and two digs. Stephen Moye and Jaylen Jasper each had four kills, but were both held under .200 hitting.
Junior setter Paul Bischoff finished with 21 assists, while redshirt senior libero Kyle Dagostino had a match-high three digs. Long Beach State out dug the Cardinal 18-7.
Junior Eli Wopat, who started his fifth match of the season at opposite, tallied three kills, while sophomores Kyler Presho and Leo Henken also notched three kills apiece.
The Beach seemed to get stronger as the match went on, hitting .889 (16-0-18) in the final frame.
Long Beach State was led by senior outside hitter TJ DeFalco, who recorded 11 kills on .600 hitting, two aces and two digs. Senior Kyle Ensing added 10 kills on .600 hitting, while fifth-year senior Nick Amado had six kills and a match-high four blocks.
Stanford is back in action on Saturday at UC San Diego with a chance to pick up its first road win of the year. The Cardinal and Tritons will meet at 7 p.m. in La Jolla.