Long Beach State men’s volleyball coach Alan Knipe said he was concerned his team would be too excited to focus for its first home match in almost a month. Instead, the top-ranked 49ers re-asserted themselves as the best team in America in a dominant, 90-minute rout of Stanford.
The 49ers easily swept the Cardinal 25-13, 25-17, 25-14.
“The guys did a good job of staying composed and focused,” Knipe said. “I was really happy with the way we stayed focused on both sides of the game.”
Long Beach State recently announced that the team had broken its record for season ticket sales, and there was a loud and rowdy crowd of 1,415 on hand for the Friday evening match. The fans got to see some history as TJ DeFalco notched his 1,000th career kill.
DeFalco, the reigning AVCA National Player of the Year, was typically humble about the milestone.
“I don’t really look at numbers or anything like that,” he said. “I had no idea.”
DeFalco had eight kills on nine swings (.889) along with an ace, four digs and two blocks. The 49ers’ defense was stifling, putting up 12 team blocks and holding Stanford to .060 hitting, while Long Beach hit .500.
Setter Josh Tuaniga doled out 28 assists, and the 49ers hit .636 on balls set by Tuaniga.
Freshman middle blocker Simon Anderson led the blocking effort with seven stuffs.
“It’s a big number, it’s just what he does,” Knipe said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s serving or playing defense or blocking balls, he has an incredibly high volleyball IQ.”
The victory continued the 49ers’ run of sweeps. They haven’t lost a set since Jan. 5, when they defeated NJIT in four sets.
Kyle Ensing had nine kills and middle blocker Nick Amado had seven kills on eight swings.
The 49ers (8-0) will host No. 13 USC in the Pyramid on Saturday at 7 p.m.
