Men’s Volleyball goes down in 5 to Pepperdine
Volleyball match slips away as Long Beach State loses in 5 to Pepperdine after leading 2-0.
From Long Beach State Reports
April 15, 2010
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Long Beach State’s postseason hopes died Thursday night as the 49ers dropped a 29-31, 28-30, 31-29, 31-29, 15-13 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match to Pepperdine at the Walter Pyramid.
The Beach (12-16, 8-13 MPSF) needed to win its final two matches (vs. USC Saturday) and hope for help from last-place Pacific on Friday and Saturday to qualify, but Pepperdine made what happens Friday and Saturday not matter for LBSU.
Poor serving doomed the 49ers in the final game. Long Beach State had five service errors including one on game point, while Pepperdine countered with two aces in the deciding game to finish with nearly half of the Waves’ game-five points coming in the service game.
Pepperdine (16-8, 14-7 MPSF) built and 11-6 thanks to four of those service errors. The 49ers battled back playing inspired volleyball at the net forcing a number of long rallies. The Beach went on an 8-3 run but couldn’t get any closer than one before losing the heartbreaker.
Dean Bittner finished with a match-high 28 kills on 38 swings for a .388 hitting percentage. Tommy Pestolesi added 20 kills and a .325 hitting percentage, while Dan Alexander tied a season-high with 16 kills (.652) and Antwain Aguillard added 15 kills (.500). Conor Eaton handed out a career-high 80 assists, while Kirk Francis led the 49er defense with 11 digs.
Cory Riecks led the Waves with 25 kills, while Maurice Torres had 21 kills. J.D. Schleppenbach just missed a triple-double for the Waves finishing with 13 kills, 13 digs and nine blocks. Pepperdine outhit LBSU .407 to .381 and finished with 12.5 more team blocks.
Images from the match:
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