April 4, 2008

Box Score

Stockton, Calif.- The Pacific men's volleyball team gave the No. 4 ranked Long Beach State 49ers a scare Friday April 4th, at the Alex G. Spanos Center. The Tigers went the distance with Long Beach, but fell in five games. The loss dropped the Tigers to 4-21 overall and 1-18 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) conference. Long Beach State advanced to 20-5 overall and 15-4 in the MPSF with the win. Scores of the match were 24-30, 30-26, 24-30, 32-30, 12-15.

The Tigers entered Friday night's matchup with momentum on their side. After taking the No. 5 ranked Pepperdine Waves to five games last Saturday, Pacific was riding high with confidence coming into tonight's matchup.

Game one started off with a back and forth battle for the lead between both teams. The teams traded kills until the score landed on 6-5 in favor of the 49ers. Long Beach State kept the Tigers at bay for most of the game, never letting Pacific get closer than one point. Several hitting and service errors plagued the Tigers late in the game and found themselves trailing 23-17 late in the game. Utilizing Pacific's mistakes, Long Beach State was able to close out the game with a kill from Paul Lotman, 30-24. Pacific was led by junior Jeff Hendershot (Claremont, Calif.) who had six kills in the game.

The second game found the Tigers humming a different tune to start things off. Using a kill from redshirt senior Blake Gentry (Ladera Ranch, Calif.) as well as a few Long Beach State errors, Pacific was able to roar out to a 3-0 lead early. From this point on, both teams turned up the offensive noise and unloaded kill after kill after kill into the opponent's defense.

With Pacific leading 12-10 after a Gentry kill, Long Beach State rallied to tie the score at 12-12 and the ensuing rally was tremendous. Over the next few points, the teams found themselves tied nine times, going back and forth with each other, until the score arrived at 21-21. A kill from Long Beach State's Josh Riley and a Pacific error, saw the 49ers take a two point lead, 23-21, late in the game. The Tigers battled back, using timely service errors from Long Beach State as well as a service ace from senior Pekka Seppanen (Kuopio, Finland) to re-take the lead 27-24. Pacific buckled down and put away Long Beach behind a kill from sophomore Jason Borchin (Roseville, Calif.) to take the game, 30-26.

Game three found the Tigers stumbling out of the gate. Poor execution was delivered by both teams, and after four consecutive hitting errors, Long Beach State led Pacific 6-3. Again the 49ers kept the Tigers just out of reach of a comeback, as Pacific trailed the rest of the game. Poor offense plagued Pacific as they found themselves trailing by 18-16, midway through the game.

Long Beach State distanced themselves even more as they went on to score five of the next seven points to take a 23-18 lead. The 49ers closed out the game behind several kills from Lotman, Dean Bittner, and the final blow came on a kill from Riley on the outside to give the game to Long Beach, 30-24.

The fourth game began in similar fashion to game one, with a power struggle early. With the teams locked up at 6-6, Long Beach State went on a scoring run, using several Pacific errors, to take a 14-9 lead. Again, Long Beach State increased the gap behind a kill from Bittner to take a 17-11 lead midway through the game.

After a timeout from head coach Joe Wortmann, Pacific mounted a comeback of their own, using several kills from Hendershot, to cut the lead to 21-17 in favor of Long Beach State. The next few moments proved to a turning point for the Tiger offense as Pacific received offensive contributions from three different hitters to tie the score at 26-26, and leave Long Beach State scratching their heads in wonder.

With momentum on their side, the two teams slugged it out to the finish line in dramatic fashion. Back and forth the teams went, until the score was tied at 30-30. A kill out of the middle from redshirt junior Joe Forbes (Westport, Conn.) gave the Tigers the lead and a Long Beach hitting error handed Pacific the game, 32-30 in storybook fashion.

With a fifth and deciding game five at hand, Pacific had an upset on their minds, and came out swinging to start the game. The teams traded blows early, and saw themselves locked into a 6-6 tie. The offenses turned up the heat even more and exchanged kill after kill, until the score was 12-11 Long Beach State lead. A kill from Bittner, and a Pacific error put the Tigers down by three, 14-11. Hendershot answered with a kill, but ultimately it was not enough. A Lotman kill on the outside ended the game 15-11, and the match for Long Beach State.

Pacific was led by Hendershot who totaled 22 kills on the night. Forbes added seven blocks, while libero Mark Bauhs (Danville, Calif.) added nine digs.

Long Beach State was led by Lotman and Bittner, who each tallied 25 kills for the 49ers.

Pacific is next in action Saturday, April 5th, as they take on the visiting UC San Diego Tritons in the Alex G. Spanos Center. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 pm PT.