March 7, 2008
Box Score
La Jolla, Calif-The Pacific men's volleyball team fell to the UC San Diego Tritons 3-2, in a thrilling five game set that saw the Tigers have their best offensive outing of the season. The loss dropped the Tigers to 1-18 overall, and 1-15 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) play. The Tritons improved to 6-13 overall and 3-11 in MPSF play. Scores of the match were 30-28, 27-30, 27-30, 30-27, 9-15.
The Tigers entered Friday night's matchup against UC San Diego (UCSD) in dire need of an offensive spark, and that is exactly what they got. Senior Pekka Seppanen (Kupio, Finland) tallied several milestones for the Tigers' offense on Wednesday night. The senior totaled a career-high 36 kills on the match, launching him into third place all-time in the career kills list for Pacific with 1,029. He passes former Tiger Sean Rodgers' mark of 1,015 kills.
Game one's competitive start set the tone early for the entire match. The two teams battled back and forth, trying to gain some ground on the each other, behind offensive domination by both teams. With the score tied 8-8, a continued balanced attack by both Pacific and UCSD found the teams locked in an offensive wave that showed no signs of breaking.
Tied at 14-14, Pacific rallied to score three of the next four points behind kills from junior Jeff Hendershot (Claremont, Calif.), sophomore Jason Borchin (Roseville, Calif.) and Seppanen, to take the lead 17-15. UCSD battled back over the next few points, using a kill from Russ Hardy to take the lead 21-20. Again the teams traded kill after kill after kill, never letting up until the score settled at 28-27 Tritons. A hitting error by Pacifc spotted UCSD a two point lead, 28-26. Seppanen answered with a kill of his own, which was followed by a Triton kill by Calvin Ross. Redshirt senior Blake Gentry (Ladera Ranch, Calif.) buried a kill from the middle to make it 29-28, UCSD, but a kill on the outside from Jason Spangler ended the game, and the Triton victory 30-28. Pacific was led by Seppanen who totaled six kills in the game, while the Tiger team hit for .324 on the game.
The second game saw the Tigers fly out of the gate. After UCSD took a 2-0 lead, Pacific rattled off five of the next six points to take the lead 5-3. Pacific increased their lead behind two consecutive kills from Seppanen to make the score 10-6 Tigers. Pacific kept the Triton attack at bay over the next few points, earning a four point cushion at one point, 16-12. UCSD mounted a rally of their own to bring themselves back in the game, still down 18-17. Three consecutive Tiger kills gave Pacific all the lead that they needed for the game, as they never led by less then two the rest of the game. The teams battled down the stretch, but the Tigers' offense was able to put the Tritons away behind a thundering kill from Hendershot to take the game and even the score, 30-27. Seppanen again led all attackers with seven kills in the game, while Hendershot added four of his own.
Game three found the Tigers riding the momentum coat tails of their game two win, and behind a blistering offensive attack, got out to a 7-3 lead early. A few points later, the Tigers' tune changed as the Tritons launched an offensive attack of their own to steal the lead from the Pacific 12-10, behind a service ace from Spangler.
This run by the Tritons only fueled the Tigers' hunger even more as Pacific scored seven of the next nine points to charge out to a 17-14 lead. The teams traded kills back and forth for a while until a kill from Seppanen gave the Tigers a 23-20 lead. The teams exchanged blows once again for a while and a kill again from Seppanen made the score 28-25, Pacific. Moments later, a kill from Hendershot ended the game 30-27, to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead overall. Seppanen annihilated the competition in the game, earning 10 kills on 16 swings for a .438 hitting percentage.
Game four found the Tigers still locked into an offensive firestorm with the Tritons as nine of the first 12 total points were determined by kills. Moments later, a kill from Hendershot tied things up at 10-10, and it was here that UCSD made a statement. Using three consecutive kills, as well as some Tiger errors, the Tritons pushed their way out to a 16-11 lead midway through the game. Pacific fought back behind their own offensive surge, and brought the game within one, trailing 18-17. UCSD scored four of the next five points to give themselves a 22-18 lead, and from there they never looked back. The teams traded blows once again down the stretch, and a final kill from Frank Fritsch ended the game, 30-27, and forced a deciding game five showdown. Once again, Seppanen carried the Tigers with another 10 kill performance in the game.
The entire evening's work came down to one game, a final race to 15 in a fifth game battle for the win. The Tigers saw themselves charge out to a 4-2 lead behind another kill from Seppanen. It was here, where the wheels came off for Pacific, as UCSD scored four unanswered points to take a 6-4 lead behind consecutive Hardy kills. This deficit proved to be too much for the Tigers, as they never regained the upper hand in the game. Trailing 9-5, Pacific fought back briefly to make the score 9-7, however, the gap proved to be too much for Pacific as errors, and a UCSD attack charged ahead and took the game 15-9, and the match.
The UCSD victory was the first ever in program history against the Pacific Tigers, the Tigers lead the series, 29-1.
Pacific was led by Seppanen who totaled a career high 36 kills on 64 swings for a .438 hitting percentage. Hendershot also notched a career high 20 kills, on 40 swings for a .350 hitting percentage. The Tigers had their best offensive performance on the year, hitting for a collective .359 hitting percentage.
UCSD was led by Spangler who had 25 kills on 48 attempts for a .438 hitting percentage.
The Pacific Tigers are next in action Thursday, March 20th as they take on UC Santa Cruz on the road. First serve is scheduled for 7:00pm PT.
