Outside attacker Skyler Varga didn’t disappoint in a marquee non-conference match-up.
Varga finished with a match-high 18 kills on a .417 attack percentage as No. 2/2 Long Beach State defeated No. 6/6 Pepperdine 25-20, 20-25, 30-28, 27-25 on Friday in Malibu, California.
Varga had a combined 12 kills in the final two games, including a kill to fight off a Pepperdine game-point in the third game and force overtime. The senior also did not commit more than one attack error in any of the games to help the defending NCAA champions remain undefeated.
Along with Varga, opposite Daniil Hershtynovich had 15 kills on a .313 attack percentage.
Hershtynovich opened the match with a team-high five five kills in the first game and did not commit an attack error until the second game. In addition, Hershtynovich had a team-high six kills in the final game to help secure the win.
Despite the loss, Pepperdine out-hit Long Beach State .333 to .300.
Opposite Cole Hartke led Pepperdine with 17 kills, while outside attackers Grant Lamoureux and Ryan Barnett each contributed 11 kills.
Setter Andrej Polomac along with running the offense added a match-high four aces against the Beach.
Long Beach State for the match finished with 10 aces – two more aces than the Waves. The Beach had six players with an ace highlighted with outside attacker Alex Kandev delivering a game-winning ace to end the third-game overtime.