Long Beach State faced their first true challenge of the season against Pepperdine. And they answered, loud and clear.
GRITTY PERFORMANCE
Skyler Varga was the man of the moment. He led the charge with a match-high 18 kills on a crisp .417 hitting percentage. Not to mention, he added a match-high eight digs and three blocks. Varga came swinging, and the Waves had no answer for that.
LBSU Coach Nick MacRae summed it up: "The difference was Long Beach grit and just competing." And compete they did.
TURNING POINTS
After splitting the first two sets (25-20, 20-25), it was the third set where things got spicy. Down 20-15? No problem. The Beach rallied with a 15-8 run to snatch the set 30-28. Connor Bloom came off the bench, sparked the run, and Alex Kandev sealed it with an ace. That's called depth.
The fourth set? Tense. Tied 16 times. Down 20-21, it was Daniil Hershtynovich and Jake Pazanti who delivered back-to-back kills. Varga then secured the set point, with the win coming on a Pepperdine net violation.
"That was the definition of LB Grit for sure," said Varga. And just like that, the Beach stayed undefeated at 8-0.
WHAT'S NEXT?
This was more than just a win. It was a statement. Long Beach State proved they can handle pressure in high-stakes matches. And from here? It’s anyone’s guess how far they’ll go. But you could feel it coming.
That’ll do it.
Source: pepperdinewaves.com
