Feb. 8, 2008

Box Score

Stockton, Calif. - The Pacific men's volleyball team suffered a 3-0 loss to No. 6 Cal State Northridge on Friday, Feb. 8.

The loss dropped the Tigers to 1-10 on the season and 1-7 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). Cal State Northridge, meanwhile, moved to 7-4 overall and 5-3 in MPSF play.

The Tigers entered tonight's match, hungry for a victory. After losing to Ball State last weekend, Pacific was in need of a win to help boost the confidence of the team, and generate some momentum going into the second half of the season. The Tigers faced the No. 6 ranked Matadors on Friday night, and it proved to be a challenge for the Pacific team.

Game one started off with at competitive battle for the lead. The Tigers found themselves off to a 7-5 lead early in the game, due in part to a balanced offense and timely kills by seniors Simon Chen-Byerley (Northfield, Ill.) and Pekka Seppanen (Kuopio, Finland). Northridge went on a five point run, behind a powerful offensive attack by the Matadors, to take the lead 10-7 over Pacific. Errors plagued the Tigers from this point on as Pacific hitting mistakes and strong serving by the Matadors, pushed the Cal State Northridge lead to 19-9. From there the Matadors never looked back, finishing the game off 30-21. Sophomore Clay Ostrander (Wheaton, Ill.) and Seppanen led the Tigers with three kills a piece in the game.

The offensive woes continued for Pacific as they fell into an early 6-1 hole to the Matadors at the beginning of the second game. The Tigers failed to create any continuity throughout the game, and behind three service aces from Northridge's Eric Vance, Pacific found themselves trailing 18-9. The Tigers tried to make a slight comeback behind kills from Ostrander and Seppanen, but the serve receive struggles proved to be too much for the Tigers as they trailed 26-16. The teams traded blows in the final stretch of the game, but the Matadors came out on top, 30-18.

Game three started off with a much more energized Tiger squad on the floor. Two service errors by Northridge aided Pacific's efforts, and the teams battled to a 3-3 tie early. At this point, the Matadors went on a three point run behind kills from Issac Kneubuhl and Vance, as well as a hitting error from the Tigers. Northridge never relinquished the lead and at one point led Pacific 18-11. The Tigers cut into the lead, scoring six out of the next 10 points to make it 22-17. Unfortunately, the offensive power of Northridge proved to be too much for the Tigers as Vance and Kevin McKniff led the Matadors' attack to win the game and the match 30-20.

Pacific was led by Ostrander and Seppanen who each tallied nine kills for the Tigers.

Northridge was led by Kneubuhl and McKniff, who each earned nine kills.

Pacific returns to the court tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 9, as the Tigers host UC Santa Barbara at 3 p.m. in the Alex G. Spanos Center.