The defending state champion Long Beach City College men's volleyball team continued its unbeaten streak to open the season as the Vikings swept visiting San Diego Mesa College on Wednesday night at the Viking Gym.
LBCC won the match by scores of 25-19, 29-27, 25-17 to improve to 3-0 overall.
Long Beach overcame its biggest test of the night in Set 2. The Vikings appeared to be on their way to an easy victory in the set and held set-point at 24-21 after a hitting error by San Diego Mesa's Cody Reeves. But a pair of kills and a block by Ryan Henson rallied Mesa back to tie the score at 24.
The teams continued to trade points and saw the score tied four more times. At 27-27, another error by Reeves and a booming kill by sophomore Greg Utupo gave the Vikings' the marathon win.
Looking for the sweep, Mesa played the Vikings closely until Long Beach took over late. Leading 18-15, LBCC rallied for the next six points. A block by Matt Wade and Ryan Boncuk gave Long Beach match point at 24-16. Moments later, Boncuk finished off the set and match win with a kill off the pass from reserve Tim Davis.
Freshman Austin Arcala led LBCC with 13 kills to go with five blocks and five digs. Utupo posted 10 kills and eight digs while Jake Burkhardt totaled eight blocks.
Reeves led San Diego Mesa (0-2) with 10 kills.
Long Beach returns to action on Friday (Feb. 9) at 6 p.m. when it will take on another big test on the road. The Vikings travel to face Orange Coast College in a rematch of last year's CCCAA State Championship final.
Photo by John Fajardo
