Feb. 11, 2011

Box Score

Stockton Calif.

The No.15 Pacific Tigers fresh off a conference win over UC San Diego looked to make it two in as many days but fell 3-0 in a grinding dual with the No.8 Anteaters of UC Irvine.

Set scores for the contest were 25-18, 25-22, and 29-27

Tigers served set one and relinquished three straight kills falling before redshirt sophomore Taylor Hughes (Fallbrook, Calif.) got the Tigers on the board with a kill swing putting Pacific down 3-1. Redshirt freshman Adam Troy (Loomis, Calif.) and Hughes each pummeled for another kill and on a Hughes service ace the Tigers knotted things up 5-5. Pacific stayed close with the set again tied at the 9-9 mark before giving up four unanswered points and falling behind 15-11 and a timeout call by Pacific. Out of the break Hughes got into one and moved the Tigers within three. A UCI kill and a Pacific attacking error led to another timeout call by the pacific bench now trailing 17-12. Troy grabbed a kill when play resumed followed immediately by a Hughes service ace Tigers back within three down 17-14. The Tigers would again fall behind by five before Junior Florian Gornik (Schwechat, Austria) laced one for a kill, Pacific trailing 19-15. Pacific then relinquished three straight points, two off UCI swings before capturing their next point on a UCI service error. Hughes and redshirt Chaz Hindsley (Northfield, Ill.) each tailed another kill along the way but the Tigers ultimately dropped the set 25-18.

Set two UCI's Kevin Carroll serving and the Tigers would get on the board first with a Hindsley rip down the line giving the Tigers a 1-0 advantage. Gornik, Hughes and Troy each contributed to the offensive attack to put the Tigers ahead 5-2. A Tiger service error followed by an Anteater service ace put UCI right back in the set with Pacific leading 5-4. All tied up at 13 back to back kills by Troy gave the Tigers a 15-13 advantage. Pacific then fell victim to a Jordan DuFault kill and three straight attacking errors of their own which led to a Pacific call for timeout now trailing 17-15. Out of the break a UCI service error put the Tigers within one. Gornik, Hughes and Hindsley continued to be effective offensively for Pacific but the Tigers were unable to fend off the Anteater outside assault and fell in the frame 25-22.

To start the third set the Tigers looked as though they had fallen asleep at the wheel. Four kills, a service ace and one Tiger attacking error put Pacific on the wrong side of the scoreboard that read 7-0 and forced a Pacific call for timeout. Out of the break the Tigers seemed to have a new spark of energy and on back to back kills by Adam Troy, Pacific cut the deficit to five, down 7-2. Pacific clawed their way through the next several rallies and on another Troy kill were behind 14-12. Troy caught fire in the set and in the next 5 rallies accounted for two more kills moving Pacific within one score 16-15. Sophomore Patrick Tunnell (Tucson, Ariz.) and junior Dylan Walker (La Canada, Calif.) kept the Tigers offense rolling in the frame and two additional Hughes kills, Pacific remained down one 20-19. Pacific earned its next kill in the set by the hand of Troy again this one tying the set at 22 all. A Walker kill followed by a Troy service error followed by an Anteater service ace and the set remained tied at 24. Pacific relinquished a kill and then facing match point, Hindsley got into a ball, slamming down on the UCI side of the net to keep Pacific's hopes alive tied up 25-25. Pacific remained in the set on errors from UCI but was unable to garner any offense in the remainder of the match, falling in the set 29-27 and ultimately in the match.

In the contest Pacific ht .224 as a team, recording 36 kills and 10 team blocks. Hindsley hit .667 with 6 kills on 9 swings while Hughes and Troy each recorded 11 kills.

With the loss the Tigers drop to 6-7(2-5 MPSF) on the season while the Anteaters improved to 6-7 (3-4 MPSF),

Pacific is next in action on Friday Feb. 18 when they travel to Malibu, Calif. to play the Pepperdine Waves in a match scheduled for 7:00pm at the Firestone Fieldhouse.