49ers
cruise in first round of playoffs
Jon Cook/On-line Forty-Niner
Jon Cook/On-line Forty-Niner
Jeff
Wootton and Robert Tarr each played well
in a victory over No. 7-seeded UC Santa
Barbara Satrurday as the 49ers advanced
to the second round of the Mountain Pacific
Sports Federation playoffs where the team
will face UCLA.
By
Paul DeCarlo
Daily-Forty Niner
The
No. 2-ranked Long Beach State men’s
volleyball team, when firing on all cylinders,
can be a handful. Seventh-seeded UC Santa
Barbara (14-16, 9-14) found that out in
the first round of the Mountain Pacific
Sports Federation playoffs, collapsing to
The Beach (26-5, 19-4) in three-straight
games (30-17, 30-27, 30-25).
The
Gauchos snapped a 21-game 49er win streak
the first time the two teams met this season
in Santa Barbara, but couldn’t duplicate
that feat Saturday in The Pyramid. After
a dominating win in game one, the 49ers
found themselves all tied up with UCSB at
25 when Nate Hagstrom provided a huge lift
off the bench with two consecutive aces,
giving Long Beach State a momentum edge
that would last the rest of the match.
“The
opportunity to go up 2-0 or be [tied] 1-1
is a big swing in a playoff match,”
said head coach Alan Knipe. “For Nate
to come in and do that doesn’t surprise
me. He’s been doing it all year, but
obviously he picked the right time.”
Outside
hitters Scott Touzinsky and Jeff Wootton
led the way for The Beach with 21 and 16
kills. Sophomore setter Tyler Hildebrand
played a nearly flawless game, with key
digs and heads-up drop shots, totaling 51
assists and 11 digs for the match.
“Coach
just said, ‘Go in there and do what
you normally do’” Hagstrom said.
“It’s always good when you can
help out your team.”
In
game three, the Gauchos jumped out to a
12-8 lead, but errors soon put the 49ers
right back in control. The Gauchos’
Michael Kennedy dropped one in late in the
match to cut The Beach lead to 27-25, but
kills by Wootton and David Lee would finish
the contest for the 49ers.
The
attack percentage for UCSB was .207, while
Long Beach State put up a solid .360. Evan
Patak and Kennedy each had 11 kills for
UCSB, while setter Bryan Berman had 26 assists.
Aaron Mansfield finished the contest with
10 digs for the Gauchos.
The
49ers travel to Provo, Utah April 29 to
play UCLA in the semifinals of the MPSF
playoffs. The No. 3-seeded Bruins are coming
off a 3-0 defeat of Hawaii in round one.
“I
don’t think we’ll have to change
much,” Wootton said. “[UCLA]
is a little bit better, but I think everything
is on our side of the net. If we play like
we did tonight, I’m sure we’ll
be fine.”
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