March 5, 2008

Box Score

Long Beach, Calif.- The Pacific men's volleyball team traveled down to southern California on Wednesday March 5th, to take on the No. 4 ranked Long Beach State 49ers. Pacific lost in straight sets, dropping their record to 1-17 overall and 1-14 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) play. The win boosted the 49ers to 14-2 overall, and 10-2 in the MPSF. Scores of the match were 30-23, 30-20, and 30-23.

Pacific made the trek down to Long Beach for a rare mid-week matchup against the No. 4 Long Beach State (LBSU) 49ers. Game one started off slow for the Tigers as an early 49er offensive wave crashed over Pacifc, and the Tigers found themselves trailing 4-1. The early deficit proved too much for Pacific to overcome, as they never recovered for the rest of the game. Pacific clawed their way back into the game behind an attack error by Long Beach, to bring the Tigers within two, 8-6. The No. 4 team continued their offensive surge as they pushed out to a 16-9 lead, courtesy of a Tommy Pestolesi kill and a Pacific error.

The teams traded points back and forth for a while, until the score settled on a 21-13 Long Beach lead, behind another Pestolesi kill. The Tigers rallied however, with a late offensive surge, to score four out of the next five points to make the score 22-17, 49er lead. The late rally was not enough for the Tigers as Long Beach rallied yet again to put the Tigers away 30-23. Senior Simon Chen-Byerley led the Tigers with team with four kills on five swings.

Game two once again found the Tigers falling into an early hole. A kill from Paul Lotman, gave Long Beach a 6-2 lead early in the game. Pacific failed to mount any sort of rebuttal, as the 49ers continued to pour it on, taking four of the next five points to take a commanding 10-3 lead. Pacific refused to back down however, and behind kills from Chen-Byerley, and sophomore Jason Borchin (Roseville, Calif.), as well as several Long Beach errors, took five of next seven points to bring themselves close, trailing 12-8.

Again, Long Beach answered the Tigers' rally and hit their way to a 20-14 lead, behind several kills from Lotman and Pestolesi. The Tigers mounted one last rally as they scored three of the next four with kills from Chen-Byerley, and redshirt sophomore Clay Ostrander (Wheaton, Ill.), to close the gap at 21-17, Long Beach lead. Errors plagued the Tigers for the rest of the game, with Pacific committing five errors over the next 12 points to end the game, 30-20, Long Beach. Borchin and Chen-Byerley led Pacific with three kills each in the game.

The third game started off slightly better for the Tigers, as a big kill from the right side by junior Jeff Hendershot (Claremont, Calif.) tied the score up at 3-3. Once again, errors haunted Pacific as four of the next eight points were off of Pacific mistakes. With the score now at 9-5, Long Beach lead, the Tigers mounted a rally of their own. A kill from freshman Kris Staks (Park Ridge, Ill.) and two 49er errors saw Pacific within one, only trailing 9-8.

The teams remained close for a while, exchanging kill after kill, until again errors by Pacific shot Long Beach out to a 16-12 lead. The 49ers never looked back from this point on and widened the gap between the teams, with the scoring margin never being less then three the rest of the game. A couple of late mistakes by Long Beach made the score 27-22, 49er lead, however the home team rattled off three of the next four points to end the game and the match, 30-23. Redshirt senior Blake Gentry (Ladera Ranch, Calif.) led Pacific with three kills on seven swings in the game.

The Tigers were led by Chen-Byerley who totaled eight kills on the evening, while also adding four blocks of his own.

Long Beach was led by Lotman who earned 12 kills on the night for a .526 hitting percentage.

The Tigers are next in action this Friday, March 7th, as they travel to UC San Diego to play. First serve is scheduled for 7:00pm PT.