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49ers
squeak by bottom-dweller UCSD Tritons in
five games
By
Claire Howie
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer
The
No. 7-ranked Long Beach State men's volleyball
team nearly fell to UC San Diego, which
ranked last in the Mountain Pacific Sports
Federation and boasts only one win so far
this season.
The
49ers rallied from a 0-2 deficit to defeat
host UCSD, 3-2, Friday night. The Tritons
controlled the first two games, defeating
the Beach 30-27 and 30-28. LBSU did not
give up, as they fought back for the win,
30-26, 30-20 and 15-9 in the final three
games of the match.
"We've
had trouble out of the gates all year,"
sophomore middle blocker and outside hitter
Kevin Cape said. "We did a good job
of keeping our heads and getting a win that
we truly needed."
With
the win, the 49ers improved their record
to 12-7 and 8-6 in the MPSF. The Tritons
fell to 0-14 in the MPSF, with a season
record of 1-17.
Junior
outside hitter Robert Tarr paced the 49ers
with 23 kills, six digs and six blocks.
He successfully continued his nine consecutive
match record of leading the team in kills.
Junior
middle blocker Duncan Budinger had a career-high
10 blocks and a career-best three solo blocks.
Redshirt freshman opposite Norm Hutton registered
a career-best 13 kills. Sophomore middle
blocker Teddy Liles checked in with 12 kills
and seven blocks. Senior outside hitter
Nate Hagstrom posted a career-high five
block assists. All-American setter, junior
setter Tyler Hildebrand notched 58 assists,
four kills, six digs and five blocks.
In
game one, UCSD and LBSU were tied at 19-19
when the Tritons scored six straight to
go up 25-19. The Beach would close the lead
to 26-24, but two decisive kills by senior
outside hitter Luke Honnette put UCSD up
and the Tritons put the game away 30-27
as UCSD out-hit LBSU .361 to .179.
In
game two, the teams were within three points
throughout play. While UCSD held tight to
the lead, LBSU succeeded in bringing it
to a tie at 28-28. A Honnette kill and an
ace by senior outside hitter Adam Toren
gave the Tritons the 30-28 win and 2-0 lead.
Game
three was led by the Tritons until an ace
by Hutton tied the game at 24-24. The 49ers
scored four of the next five points and
continued the momentum to win game three
30-26.
Games
four and five were veritable sweeps with
LBSU starting out on top 12-6 and never
letting go. In game four, the Tritons never
got closer than four points as LBSU never
looked back and won 30-20. And game five
was much the same, with a rally that tallied
an early score of 14-8. Tarr's 23rd kill
of the game put the Tritons away with a
final score of 15-9.
Next
up, LBSU will play at home in The Walter
Pyramid for the long awaited Beach Bash
Tournament on March 18-19.
Attending
the two day tournament will be the UC Santa
Barbara Gauchos, the Rutgers-Newark Scarlet
Raiders and the Indiana University-Purdue
University Fort Wayne Mastadons.
The
Beach are riding high on a three-game win
streak going into the tournament, which
is the longest so far this season. The 49ers
will face UCSB for the third time this season.
The Beach won the first meeting 3-0 back
on Jan. 7, but LBSU lost the last matchup
1-3 on Feb. 18.
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