Feb. 9, 2008

Box Score

Stockton, Calif. - Despite a career-high 33 kills from senior Pekka Seppanen (Kuopio, Finland), the Pacific men's volleyball team fell to UC Santa Barbara, 3-1, on Saturday, Feb. 9.

Pacific fell to 1-11 on the season and 1-8 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). The Gauchos, meanwhile, moved to 5-6 overall and 4-4 in MPSF play.

Pacific entered this afternoon's match up in dire need of a win. The team had a rough outing the previous game, where a slow offense plagued the Tigers for the duration of the match against Cal State Northridge. Pacific took on the challenge of reviving their offense against the No. 13 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos on Saturday afternoon.

Game one started off slow for the Tigers as they fell into an early 6-3 hole. The teams traded offensive blows for a little while, until the score was 20-16 in favor of the Gauchos. Behind a balanced offensive attack the Tigers were able to claw their way back into the game, and finally a kill from sophomore Jason Borchin (Roseville, Calif.) cut the Gauchos' lead to two at 25-23. A few service errors by the Gauchos and a timely kill from Seppanen tied the score at 28-28. A service ace by Seppanen and a kill on the outside from junior Jeff Hendershot (Claremont, Calif.) sealed the game one victory for the Tigers, 30-28. Seppanen led all attackers in game one with nine kills on 18 swings.

The second game saw the Tigers carry their momentum from game one into a scoring run early to grab a 4-1 lead. UC Santa Barbara responded behind timely kills by freshman Jeff Menzel to tie the score at 8-8. An offensive surge at this point gave the Gauchos a cushion of four points as they took the lead 18-13 midway through the game. Pacific never could overcome the deficit, and the closest they came to UC Santa Barbara was a two point spread at 26-24. Moments later, a disputed call led to a yellow card on Pacific head coach Joe Wortmann and the Tigers dropped game two, 30-25, tying the match up at one game a piece. Seppanen again led the Tigers with eight kills and Theo Brunner earned six for the Gauchos.

Motivated after their loss, game three saw the Tigers engage in a tough battle for the lead with UC Santa Barbara. Back and forth the teams went, exchanging blows. Midway through the game, Pacific emerged from the fray to grab a 13-9 lead, thanks in part to a rejuvenated Tiger offense, and two big kills from red shirt sophomore Clay Ostrander (Wheaton, Ill.). Pacific went on another scoring run, using two kills from Seppanen to propel themselves out to a 16-11 lead. UC Santa Barbara did not back down however, and behind several kills from Menzel and Mike Runkle the Gauchos clawed back into the game at 18-17. Again the teams battled back and forth and the Tigers found themselves in the lead 25-23. Once again the Gauchos rose to the challenge as crushing service aces from the Gauchos fueled another comeback, allowing UC Santa Barbara to take the lead from Pacific at 28-27. A kill from red shirt senior Blake Gentry (Ladera Ranch, Calif.) tied the score at 28-28, and a follow up kill from senior Simon Chen-Byerley (Northfield, Ill.) gave Pacific a 29-28 lead. Two errors from the Tigers, however, and a kill from Michael Fisher put Pacific away, 31-29. Seppanen continued to lead the Tigers with eight more kills in the game.

Devastated over the frustrating end of game three, Pacific came out flat to start the game, and found themselves trailing 6-3 early. A timeout by the Tigers gave them the rest that they needed and the team battled their way back into the game behind kills from Chen-Byerley and Seppanen, as well as errors from Santa Barbara, to make the score 11-8, Gauchos lead. Within striking distance, down 20-18, the Tigers a critical series of errors to push UC Santa Barbara away again, this time for good. The Gauchos continued their offensive push and took command of the game 27-22. Two more errors by the Tigers and a kill by Brunner ended the game and the match 30-22.

Pacifc was lead by Seppanen who had a career-high 33 kills on 60 swings. Freshman Tyler D'Egidio (Calabasas, Calif.) earned a career high 61 assists in his first start as a Tiger.

The Gauchos were lead by Menzel and Brunner who each kicked in 18 kills for their team.

Pacific returns to the court on Friday, Feb. 15 as the Tigers host Stanford at 7 p.m. in the Alex G. Spanos Center.