Jan. 16, 2008

Box Score

Stockton, Calif. - The Pacific men's volleyball team suffered a 3-0 loss to No. 11 USC on Wednesday, Jan. 16.

The loss dropped the Tigers to 0-5 on the season and 0-3 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) play, while USC moved to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in conference.

Scores of the match were 30-28, 30-23, and 30-26.

The Tigers were looking for a much needed win as they took the floor against the USC Trojans on Wednesday night, looking for their first conference victory of the year. The game started out,with a close competition between the offense of both Pacific and USC. With the score tied at 14-14, a service ace by senior Pekka Seppanen (Kuopio, Finland) gave the Tigers the lead, and a momentum swing. The Trojans kept it close, behind seven kills from C.J. Schellenberg, USC fought back to take a 28-26 lead. The Tigers earned two of the next three points, behind a service error from USC and a kill from junior Jeff Hendershot (Claremont, Calif.) to make the score 29-28 in favor of the Trojans. USC closed out game one with a kill from C.J. Schellenberg, 30-28. The Tigers hit .438 in the game behind four kills on four attempts from senior Simon Chen-Byerley (Northfield, Ill.).

Game two began in similar fashion to game one, with a power struggle in the beginning between both teams. With the Trojans leading 11-9, serving and hitting errors, dug the Tigers into a 19-14 hole. Behind two kills from sophomore Jason Borchin (Roseville, Calif.), Pacific was able to battle back and cut into USC's lead. The offense and blocking attack of the Trojans proved to be too much for the Tigers down the stretch, and Pacific fell, 30-23. Chen-Byerley led the Tigers with four kills in the game.

The Tigers' offense came out firing in game three, using a very efficient offensive attack. Pacific gathered 12 kills from Borchin, Chen-Byerley, and Hendershot, to give the Tigers a 14-13 lead. Behind six kills from Murphy Troy, USC mounted a comeback to take the lead, 26-22. The Tigers took four of the next six points, to cut USC's lead to 28-26. The size and power the Trojan attackers closed out the game, and the match, winning 30-26.

Borchin and Hendershot led the Tigers with 11 kills each, and Seppanen and Chen-Byerley each contributed 10 kills. Mark Bauhs (Danville, Calif.) finished with nine digs on the match.

USC was led by Murphy Troy who had 15 kills.

The Tigers return to the court on Friday, Jan. 18 as Pacific hosts No. 2 Pepperdine at 7 p.m. in the Alex G. Spanos Center.