April 18, 2009

Box Score

STOCKTON, Calif. - The Pacific men's volleyball team concluded its 2009 season with a 36-34, 30-17, 30-23 loss to No. 1 UC Irvine on Saturday, Apr. 18, at the Alex G. Spanos Center. With the loss the Tigers fell to 3-28 overall and 0-22 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). The Anteaters improved to 24-4 on the season and 19-3 in the MPSF.

Before the match, seniors Jeff Hendershot (Claremont, Calif.), Joe Forbes (Westport, Conn.), and Kevin Pratte (Hemet, Calif.) were recognized as their volleyball career at Pacific came to a close.

In the first set, the Tigers and the Anteaters battled through 13 tie scores and seven lead changes. UC Irvine jumped out to an early taking a 22-14 lead. The Tigers went on a three point run, including a kill from Hendershot and one by Pratte, to close the lead to 22-17. At 26-20 the Tigers scored five straight points to bring themselves within one of the Anteaters at 26-25. Hendershot recorded two kills during this rally. After a quick sideout, Pacific took at 28-27 lead on a kill from Hendershot, an error by UC Irvine, and a service ace from freshman Sean Daley (Moorpark, Calif.). Down 29-28, a kill from Forbes and another from Hendershot gave the Tigers a 30-29 lead, just one point away from taking the set. The Anteaters would sideout and rally a point to take a 31-30 lead. But a service error by UC Irvine and Hendershot's 12th kill of the set brought the Tigers back in front 32-31. The teams would tie at 32-32, 33-33 and 34-34, but the Anteaters would close out the set by a score of 36-34.

With the Tigers behind 9-5 in the second set, a solo block from junior Jason Borchin (Roseville, Calif.) and a kill from Daley brought the score to 9-7. With the Anteaters still leading 19-11, two straight kills from freshman Nicolaas Schenk (Kamuela, Hawaii) brought the Tigers within six, at 19-13. At 26-17, UC Irvine went on to score the final four points of the set to win 30-17.

The Anteaters gained an early 10-3 lead during the third set, as they scored 10 of the first 13 points. With the Tigers trailing by nine, Hendershot recorded two straight kills to bring the score to 24-17. A three point rally at 26-17, including a kill by Pratte and a block from Pratte and Forbes, made the score 26-20. Moments later at 27-20, Forbes would rack a kill to take the score to 27-21. But UC Irvine would hold on and win the set 30-23 and the match 3-0.

Hendershot recorded a career high of 25 kills, and also had 10 digs. Forbes recorded four kills and three blocks for the Tigers, while Pratte had eight kills.

Cory Yoder led the Anteaters with 15 kills.