April 5, 2008
Box Score
STOCKTON, Calif. - The Pacific men's volleyball team dropped a heartbreaker Saturday night, with a five-game loss to UC San Diego at the Alex G. Spanos Center. The loss drops the Tigers to 4-22 overal and 1-19 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) play. UC San Diego advanced to 10-16 overall and 6-13 in the MPSF.
Pacific entered Saturday night's matchup against UC San Diego hungry for a win. After suffering a five game heartbreaker to No. 4 Long Beach State on Friday night, the Tigers welcomed the Tritons' challenge.
Game one started off with a close battle back and forth between the two teams. A kill in the middle from redshirt junior Joe Forbes (Westport, Conn.) tied the score up at 6-6. From here, UC San Diego went on a bit of a scoring run, utilizing several Pacific errors to take the lead 11-8 behind a hitting error from the Tigers. The Tigers called a timeout hoping to re-group their offense and light a spark in the team.
That is exactly what happened for Pacific out of the timeout. Using several kills from redshirt sophomore Kevin Pratte (Hemet, Calif.) as well as a booming kill from the middle by redshirt senior Blake Gentry (Ladera Ranch, Calif.), the Tigers battled back to take the lead 20-18 over the Tritons. The teams went back and forth for some time, exchanging blow after blow from the outside hitters, until a kill from UC San Diego's Russ Hardy, notched things up at 25-25.
The Tritons never looked back the rest of the game, and UC San Diego was able to close out the Tigers over the next few points, using several kills from outside hitter Jason Spangler to end the game, 30-26 in favor of the Tritons.
The second game found the Tigers charging out of the gate early, behind several errors from UC San Diego, to take a 7-5 lead. It was here where Pacific's offense came to life, and using timely kills from senior Pekka Seppanen (Kuopio, Finland), tore out to a 13-10 lead over the Tritons.
UC San Diego called a timeout, and that was all the down time they needed as they rallied to score four of the next five points and take the lead from the Tigers behind a ball handling error from Pacific, 15-14. The Tigers were able to battle back though, using stellar play from the middle blockers, to re-take the lead 23-20. Pacific was able to keep the Tritons at bay the rest of game and finally put the game away with a Seppanen kill on the outside to even the score at 1-1 overall, and take game two 30-28.
Game three proved to a task of epic proportions at the Spanos Center. The game started out, with UC San Diego blindsiding the Tigers with an offensive onslaught that gave them an early cushion and a 9-5 lead. Pacific called timeout and focused themselves just enough to come out swinging after the break. Scoring seven of the next nine points, the Tigers were able to come back from the four-point deficit to take a 12-11 lead using a kill from junior Jeff Hendershot (Claremont, Calif.).
With the teams locked into a heated battle, the offensive firepower was at its peak. Both teams delivered kill after kill, answering the play before it, to keep the score close until it was 28-26, Triton lead. At this juncture, the Tigers took it upon themselves to not be outdone, and instigated a series of play that can only be described as incredible.
Pacific rallied to tie the score at 28-28, and from here, the cat-and-mouse game was on. Point after point was scored in alternating fashion, with neither team able to capitalize on game point. In a rally that saw the score tied 10 times, and the lead change 11 times, the two teams slugged it out until the end. From free balls to outside sets, from service errors to lifts, points were scored in every facet in this time, and the excitement mounted with every point.
With the game on the line and a Tiger lead of 39-38, Hendershot stepped up to the service line. He hammered a jump serve over the net right to libero Eric Leserman. Leserman's pass to setter Phil Bannan was right on the money, and Bannan's set to hitter Frank Fritsch was exactly where it should have been, until the finish. Fritsch went up, swung, only to come up short and bury the ball out of bounds to end the game, and give Pacific the marathon game, 40-38.
With the energy and momentum on their side, Pacific stepped onto the court for game four ready to pull off the upset and shock the Tritons. The Tigers would be in for a surprise as the game went on. Fresh out of the gate, UC San Diego took control of the game with a kill on the outside from Hardy, to give the Tritons a 9-6 lead early.
Pacific would never hold the lead throughout the course of the game, despite a strong team .300 hitting percentage. The Triton firepower of Calvin Ross and Fritsch proved to be to much for Pacific to handle as they found themselves trailing 21-18. Several more errors from Pacific further widened the gap, and UC San Diego was able to close out the game, and force a deciding game five, with a kill on the right side from Fritsch, to win the game 30-26.
After hours of playing, and so much emotion poured into the match, the teams met one last time for a final game five. In true competitive fashion, the game started out with a struggle for the lead in the beginning. Back and forth the teams went until the score was 5-5 behind a service error from UC San Diego.
Using a kill from Jason Spangler, and several unforced errors from Pacific, the Tritons cruised out to a 9-7 lead, midway through the game. Here, the Tigers decided that they would not go down without a fight; and a fight is exactly what they gave. Pacific rallied back to tie the score at 11-11 using a Seppanen kill. Once again, the teams were locked into a back and forth battle for the lead. Each team continued to answer the other team's kills, and the competitive tension could have been cut with a knife.
With the score tied at 17-17, a Pacific error proved to be the hole in the Tigers' sails as a kill from Bannan, and another Tiger error, gave the game and the match to UC San Diego 20-18.
Pacific was led by Seppanen who led all attackers with 28 kills. Forbes posted a team-leading .524 hitting percentage for the night.
UC San Diego was led by Hardy, who paced the Tritons with 23 kills.
Pacific is next in action, Friday, April 11th as they face the nationally ranked UC Irvine Anteaters, in the Alex G. Spanos Center. First serve is scheduled for 7:00pm PT.
