Feb. 25, 2008
Box Score
STOCKTON, Calif. - The Pacific men's volleyball team fell to 1-14 overall (1-11 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) with a 30-25, 25-30, 30-18, 30-26 loss to No. 14 Hawai'i (6-7, 5-5 MPSF) on Monday, Feb. 25, at the Alex G. Spanos Center.
Desperate for a win, the Tigers came into the Spanos Center looking for vengeance from Friday night's loss, against the Warriors of Hawai'i. Game one started out with a close battle for the lead, and that tone continued throughout the game. Back and forth the teams went, until the score arrived at 6-5 behind a kill from redshirt senior Blake Gentry (Ladera Ranch, Calif.). Hawai'i battled back behind a strong offensive run, as well as a service ace by Jim Clar, and two consecutive errors by the Tigers, to take the lead 10-8. The next few points by both teams were close and the squads found themselves locked into a 17-17 tie. Two kills by Clar fueled a Warrior rally that saw them take a three point lead 22-19 late in the game. Serving errors plagued Pacific the rest of the way, and the Tigers never recovered as Hawai'i closed out the game 30-25. Junior Jeff Hendershot (Claremont, Calif.) led the Tigers with five kills on six swings.
Game two saw the Tigers hungry for a strong start, and that is what they got as kills by senior Pekka Seppanen (Kuopio, Finland) and Hendershot, as well as errors by Hawai'i, gave Pacific a 4-1 lead early. The Warriors rallied back behind a dominant offensive surge headed by three kills from Nemanja Komar, to take the lead 6-5 over the Tigers. The teams traded offensive blows for a while until the Tigers found themselves with a three point lead, 14-11, led by a diverse offensive with Hendershot, Seppanen, Gentry, and sophomore Jason Borchin (Roseville, Calif.) all contributing kills. Pacific never relinquished their lead from that point on in the game. Back and forth the teams went trading kill for kill, until the score settled at 24-19. Here Pacific turned on the after burners in their offense as they went on to score five of the next nine points to take the lead 29-23. A couple of kills from Hawai'i kept the Warriors in the game, but a final kill from Seppanen gave the Tigers the win, 30-25. Seppanen and Borchin led the Tigers offensively with nine and eight kills each, while the team hit an astonishing .450 overall.
Game three saw the tides turn drastically for Pacific. The offensive struggled early for the Tigers, and they found themselves in an early 6-2 hole. The struggles continued as hitting errors poisoned the Tigers' hitters and the team found themselves trailing 14-6 to the Warriors. A small rally by Pacific, behind kills by Borchin and Seppanen, brought the Tigers to a 10-18 deficit. Pacific never recovered the rest of the game, and seven kills by Jacob Schkud of Hawai'i proved to be too much for the Tigers to handle as they fell in game three, 30-18.
In hopes of forgetting the previous game, Pacific came out much improved offensively in the fourth game. Early scoring rallies from both teams found the score at 7-4, Hawai'i lead. The two teams went back and forth for a while at this point, with the Warriors leading anywhere from three to five points the whole way, until the score was 20-16, Warrior lead. Two consecutive kills by Borchin and redshirt sophomore Clay Ostrander (Wheaton, Ill.) brought the Tigers back to within striking distance, as they only trailed 20-18. Pacific fought hard the rest of the way, keeping Hawai'i within reach most of the way. A few untimely service errors at the end of the game proved to be the final blow to the Tigers as they dropped the game and the match, 30-26. Pacific was again led by Borchin who had eight kills in the game.
Both Borchin and Seppanen tallied 22 kills for the Tigers, earning a career high for Borchin. The team as a whole had their best offensive performance of the season, hitting .333 for the match. Libero Mark Bauhs (Danville, Calif.) added 15 digs for the Tigers as well.
Hawai'i was led by Schkud who totaled 17 kills on 34 swings for the Warriors.
Pacific is next in action this Friday, February 29th as they travel to Utah to take on the No. 3 ranked BYU Cougars. First serve is scheduled for 7:00pm PT.
