Jan. 18, 2008
Box Score
Stockton, Calif. - The Pacific men's volleyball team delivered their best performance of the season in a 3-1 loss to No. 2 Pepperdine on Friday, Jan. 18.
The loss dropped the Tigers to 0-6 on the season and 0-4 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Pepperdine, meanwhile, moved to 3-0 overall and 3-0 in conference play.
Game scores for the match were: 26-30, 19-30, 33-31, 22-30.
The Tigers welcomed the challenge Friday night, as they took on the No. 2 ranked Pepperdine Waves at home. Game one set the precedent for the entire match as the two teams exchanged blows in a battle for the early lead. With the point spread never being more then two points during the entire game, senior Pekka Seppanen (Kuopio, Finland) carried the Tigers' offense with six kills in the game. Pepperdine returned fire throughout game one behind the offense of hitter J.D. Schleppenbach, who notched five kills for the Waves. With the score 24-22, in favor of Pepperdine, the Waves went on a five to three run to put the Tigers away, and finished the game 30-26 behind a kill from Schleppenbach. Junior Jeff Hendershot (Claremont, Calif.) added six kills on eight swings for the Tigers in the game contributing to a team .433 hitting percentage.
Game two saw the Tigers stumble out of the gate, falling into a quick 11-5 deficit due to several hitting and serving errors. The Waves poured it on even more using four kills from Cory Riecks and five more kills from Schleppenbach. With the score 16-26, Pacific traded points back and forth with Pepperdine using two kills from Hendershot to close the gap somewhat. A setter's dump from Jonathan Winder ended the game 19-30.
The Tigers dug deep at the start of the third game and the difference was like night and day. Pacific came roaring out to a commanding 10-6 lead behind two blocks from seniors Simon Chen-Byerley (Northfield, Ill.) and Blake Gentry (Ladera Ranch, Calif.). With the Tigers leading 18-15, Pepperdine mounted a comeback, using a balanced attack to tie the score up at 22-22, and from here, the battle was on. Point after point the two teams traded, kill after kill, until finally the score was 31-31. The Waves commented a pivotal error to open a door for the Tigers and fittingly, Pacific's defense stormed through. Chen-Byerley and sophomore Jason Borchin (Roseville, Calif.) capped a Pacific victory with a thunderous block in the middle to give the Tigers a 33-31 win. Four kills from Chen-Byerley, and five kills from Borchin fueled the Tigers' charge to victory in game three.
Pumped up, and to the welcome of a roaring crowd, the Tigers took the floor for game four. Once again Pacific did not back down from the offensive firepower of Pepperdine, and kept the score close, trailing 14-13 midway through the game. It was here that Pepperdine showed the Tigers, why they are the second ranked team in the country as the Waves scored nine of the next ten points to build a 23-15 lead. Pacific rallied to make the score 26-20, behind three kills from Hendershot, but it was to no avail, as the Tigers fell to the Waves 30-22.
Seppanen lead the Tigers with 17 kills, and Hendershot contributed 15 as well. Freshman Colan Ishii (Aiea, Hawaii) added eight digs for Pacific.
Schleppenbach totaled 17 kills for Pepperdine.
Pacific returns to action on Friday, Jan. 25 as the Tigers travel to Northridge, Calif. to face Cal State Northridge at 7 p.m.
