Jan. 7, 2009
Box Score
Santa Cruz, Calif. - Led by middle hitters senior Joe Forbes (Westport, Conn.) and freshman Sean Daley (Moorpark, Calif.) the Pacific men's volleyball team defeated UC Santa Cruz, 3-0, on Wednesday, January 7.
With this victory the Pacific Tigers start their season off at 1-0, while the Banana Slugs fell to 0-1.
Scores for the match were; 30-27, 30-27 and 30-25.
The first set started off with the Tigers and the Banana Slugs going back and forth. They battled through seven ties culminating at 12-12. UC Santa Cruz surged ahead with but Pacific came back to tie the game at 18-18, by forcing UC Santa Cruz into five errors and pulling even on a kill from Forbes. At 18-18 the Tigers started to pull away with the help of three kills from Sean Daley, building a 24-20 edge. Pacific went on to take the set with the final score 30-27.
Much like the first set, the two teams battled fiercely through much of the second set. Pacific and UC Santa Cruz pushed through 16 ties and two lead changes bringing the score to 27-27. With the set and the momentum of the match hanging in the balance, junior Jason Borchin (Roseville, Calif.) put the Tigers out in front behind a cross-court kill. Borchin then stepped to the service line and forced UC Santa Cruz into back-to-back hitting errors with tough serves to lead Pacific past the Banana Slugs, 30-27. The Tigers posted a hitting percentage of .348, compared to the UC Santa Cruz's .125.
After battling through another tight affair in the third set, the Tigers began to widen their lead after the score of 16-15. Pacific notched six of the next eight points to build a 22-17 lead. Two kills from Daley and a service ace from junior Mark Bauhs (Danville, Calif.) paved the way for Pacific. The Tigers hit .421 during this set, with 10 kills on 19 attempts, taking the set and the match with a 30-25 victory.
Daley led Pacific with 10 kills and a .769 hitting percentage, while Forbes finished with seven kills, three blocks, two aces, as well as a .600 hitting mark. Bauhs led the Tigers with 23 assists.
Brad Sullivan finished with 13 kills to lead UC Santa Cruz, while Justin Lam had 11 kills.
The Tigers next game will be against UC Santa Barbara on January 9 at 1 p.m., as both teams begin play in the UC Santa Barbara/Elephant Bar Tournament. They will play again at 7 p.m., with the opponent to be announced.
