The No. 1 state-ranked Long Beach City College men's volleyball team overcame a controversial decision by the referees and won a marathon five-set match 3-2 over visiting No. 5 Los Angeles Pierce on Wednesday at LBCC.
The Vikings won the match over the rival Brahmas by scores of 25-21, 26-28, 25-16, 25-27, 15-13 to improve to 12-1 overall and 5-1 in Western State Conference play. For Long Beach, it was its first five-set match of the season and the first time the Vikings had lost a set at home.
After taking Set 1 25-21, Long Beach appeared to complete an amazing comeback in the second set. The Vikings trailed 23-15 before an attack error by Daniel Williams, a kill by LBCC freshman Jo'Lon Clark (Poly HS), and back-to-back blocks by sophomore Aniefre Etim-Thomas (Wilson HS) got Long Beach within four points at 23-19.
A kill Jon Griffith gave Pierce set point at 24-19, but LBCC scored six of the next seven points to eventually tie the set at 25-25. An error by Ryan Musick and a block by sophomore Max Wechsung (St. John Bosco HS, pictured) appeared to give the Vikings a 27-25 win.
After the play, Pierce protested the score, claiming they weren't awarded a point on a sideout moments earlier. After a lengthy discussion between the officials and the Pierce coaching staff, the score was reset to 26-26. A pair of Long Beach errors eventually gave the set win to Pierce, 28-26.
The Vikings were all business in the third set, answering by rolling to an easy 25-16 win. Pierce wouldn't go down easy, as the Brahmas held off another late Long Beach rally in the fourth to force a deciding fifth set.
In Set 5 with the score tied 3-3, the Vikings jumped out to a 9-5 lead and never looked back. Pierce kept the set interesting, getting within two points at 10-8, 12-10, and after an attack error by freshman Jacob MacRae, Long Beach was clinging to a 14-13 advantage. But on the ensuing serve, Wechsung sealed the win for the Vikings with a booming kill down the middle of the court to end the match.
Wechsung had a big all-around night, leading Long Beach with 14 kills and 33 assists. He also added seven digs, three blocks, and two aces.
Etim-Thomas was impressive at the net, totaling 10 blocks to go with seven kills. Clark posted 12 kills while sophomore Rob McLean (East Northport, NY) had 10 kills, five blocks, five digs, and two aces.
Griffith led Pierce (8-5, 3-3 WSC) with 16 kills. Ian Zavala totaled eight kills and six blocks while Ray De Leon had 25 assists.
Long Beach returns to action on Friday (Mar 30) when it travels to Santa Monica College for a 6 pm WSC match.
Photo by John Fajardo