LOS ANGELES -- Senior Taylor Crabb was unstoppable on Wednesday night as he carried sixth-ranked Long Beach State to a big 3-1 MPSF win against No. 2 UCLA at Pauley Pavilion. Set scores were 25-16, 25-20, 22-25, 25-23.
Crabb matched his career high with 29 kills, but even more impressive was the fact that he had just one hitting error on 56 attempts for a .500 clip. He has reached double figures in every match this season, including five outings with 20 or more. Three of those 20-plus kill performances have come in the past four matches as he had 24 vs. Pepperdine and 29 at Stanford.
Crabb also finished with a career-best 16 digs for his team-leading fourth double-double of the year. Crabb added five blocks and one ace to fill out the stat sheet.
Senior Dalton Ammerman contributed 13 kills and nine digs, while sophomore Andrew Sato had 12 digs. Sophomore Taylor Gregory registered a team-best six blocks and senior Connor Olbright dished out 52 assists.
LBSU extended its win streak to four matches, improving to 7-3 overall and 6-3 in MPSF action. Eleventh-year head coach Alan Knipe also reached a milestone as it was his 200th career victory at the helm of the program.
Gonzalo Qurioga led UCLA (10-3, 7-2 MPSF) with 20 kills and 10 digs, while Robart Page added 18 kills.
No. 8 Stanford 3, Pacific 0
STOCKTON, Calif. -- Playing for the final time in the Spanos Center, No. 8 Stanford swept Pacific 25-18, 26-24, 25-17 on Wednesday. The Cardinal improved to 8-4 overall and 5-4 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, while the Tigers dropped to 2-10 on the year and 1-8 in conference.
As a team, Stanford hit .271 and registered 12 service aces while holding Pacific to a .203 hitting percentage. Six of the Cardinal’s aces came by senior Steven Irvin, tying his career high.
Senior outside hitter Brian Cook led the Cardinal with 17 kills on a .343 attack percentage to go with eight digs, three blocks and two aces. His 17 kills were the most in a three-set match by a Stanford player this season.
Irvin added 11 kills on a .556 hitting percentage, while senior opposite Eric Mochalski finished with seven kills, six digs and three aces. Sophomore setter James Shaw controlled the offense with 32 assists and recorded a match-high nine digs.
Pacific, which will no longer support a men’s volleyball program after this season, was led by Christian Franceschi’s 15 kills and a .406 hitting percentage. The Tigers outblocked the Cardinal 12.5 to 5.5.
