March 28, 2008

Box Score

Los Angeles, Calif. - On the road for a pair of away contests, the Pacific men's volleyball dropped a 3-0 decision to the University of Southern California on Friday, March 28. The loss dropped the Tigers to 4-19 on the year and snapped a three game winning streak for Pacific. Additionally, Pacific was eliminated from post-season contention with the loss.

Game scores for the match were: 28-30, 16-30, 29-31.

In the opening game of the match, the Tigers got off to a strong start, opening up a three point lead halfway through the game, taking a 16-13 lead on the serve of senior Pekka Seppanen (Kuopio, Finland). After a small run by the Trojans, the Tigers held on to a two point lead, pushing to a 28-26 lead and the verge of an opening game victory. However, four straight points, including back-to-back kills by Troy Murphy, switched the tide of the match, giving the Trojans the first win of the night.

After a close game one, the Trojans used the momentum from their comeback win to take game two by 14 points. Pacific struggled to find its offensive rhythm, hitting a match low .036 in the game. The Trojans hit a match high .654 in the game.

Down two games to none, the Tigers made a stand in the third game of the night, battling back and forth with the Trojans in an attempt to prolong the match. As they did in the first game, the Tigers held a three point lead late in the game, pushing out to a 26-23 lead on Southern Cal. However, the Trojans battled back, even the game before finishing the contest off in extra points on back-to-back points by Murphy. The last kill of the match was Murphy's 18th of the contest.

Seppanen finished the match with 17 kills for the Tigers on 36 swings. In addition, Seppanen added five digs and three blocks on the night.

Pacific will be back in action tomorrow, Saturday, March 29 as they take on Pepperdine in Malibu, Calif. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 pm.