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49ers
split two on road trip
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• Junior Duncan Budinger (No. 17)
and senior Nate Hagestrom (No. 8) goes for
a block against Pepperdine last Thursday.
Clair Howie/Online Forty-Niner
By
Claire Howie
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer
In
a twist of fate the 49ers' men's volleyball
team (6-3, 4-2 MPSF) split its two road
matches this past weekend, falling in five
games to Pepperdine and earning a five game
victory against USC.
The
first match of the weekend suggested that
size did matter as No. 2-ranked Pepperdine,
squeaked by No. 5-ranked Long Beach State
30-28, 26-30, 33-31, 30-32 16-14.
"They
are a big team, and it showed as the match
went on," Assistant Coach Matt Prosser
said. "They were able to hit cleanly
over our blocks."
Both
teams finished with four players with double-digit
in kills. LBSU's Yassir Sliti led all players
with 24 kills. Robert Tarr, Nate Hagstrom
and Duncan Budinger each added 21, 18, and
13 kills respectively to the team's total
of 89.
The
last three games of the match went into
extra points, requiring big plays from Pepperdine
to put the game away.
During
game three neither team held more than a
two-point lead. The 49ers had three game
point opportunities, but were unable to
finish. Andy Hein and John Mayer finally
closed out the third game for Pepperdine
when they blocked LBSU outside hitter, Tarr.
After
rallying back and forth for the first 19
points in game four, Tarr and Teddy Liles
smothered Mayer's kill attempt to win the
game for the 49ers.
In
the deciding game, the Waves took an early
lead, but LBSU battled back and grabbed
a three-point lead at 11-8. Pepperdine blocked
their way to even the score at 11. Pepperdine's
Jonathan Winder scored the match point with
a kill.
LBSU
was on the road again Saturday, playing
against USC (3-7, 1-5 MPSF) in a conference
match. Once more the 49ers went to five
games. This time however, they came out
on top, winning the match 3-2 (30-23, 30-18,
25-30, 27-30, 17-15).
The
match started off with strong play from
the 49ers as they took an early two game
lead over the Trojans. However, USC battled
back to win the next two games, capitalizing
on the 49ers' inconsistent play.
Game
five went into extra points when a LBSU
committed a blocking error combined with
a Trojan's service ace, which evened the
score at 14.
Redshirt
freshmen, Paul Lotman closed the game for
the 49ers with a big swing for the final
kill.
Despite
the win, Read wanted the team to play with
more focus.
"I
know we are the better team because we proved
it on the court, but we would have liked
to put the match away more quickly,"
he said. "When we play well, winning
usually takes care of itself."
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