49ers
remain at the top while Trojans fall
By
Mario Burciaga
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer
Led by the unforeseen play of sophomore Francisco Valdez, the Long Beach State
men’s volleyball team showed why they are ranked No. 1 in the MPSF, as
they overcame a one-game deficit to a 3-1 victory over No. 13 USC.
The Friday night crowd of 1,223 at The Walter Pyramid not only set a record
as the 20 th all-time men’s volleyball attendance record at The Walter
Pyramid, but became more animated as the match went on.
With an easy, but exciting four-game victory, 31-33, 30-18, 30-20, 30-26, The
Beach improved their record to 8-1 overall and 4-1 in the MPSF.
The first game was neck to neck as the Trojans lead mostly by one point throughout
the game, but as the teams tied at 28, two consecutive serve errors by The
Beach topped off the extra point game 31-33 as the visiting team drew first
blood.
“
We weren’t concerned because we were not fully into the match. I think
it was just a hangover effect from yesterday,” said Head Coach Alan Knipe,
referring to the loss to No. 3-seeded Pepperdine. “We settled down and
played harder, we didn’t make changes we just played better and harder.”
After a slow start The Beach ignited the crowd by winning the second game and
the snowball just kept on rolling. The Beach continued its attack by winning
the third but the Trojans wouldn’t go down without a fight.
The fourth and final game seemed like a replica of the first game—one
point catch-up. A late push by the Trojans left The Beach down 22-23. The Beach
then decided to rally into a USC timeout with the score 25-23. The timeout
did not hinder the red hot Long Beach team as they finished the game 30-26.
Valdez had a total of 48 kills in four games and his 16 kills in the fourth
game set a new record for LBSU.
“
Every match of the MPSF is important, we need every win we can get,” Valdez
said. “This was a comeback from the loss yesterday, I felt bad and I
needed some extra motivation,” he said.
Tyler Caldwell provided The Beach with 29 total digs and Paul Lotman chipped
in with 26.
The USC Trojan team carried two foreign players, sophomore Juan Figueroa from
Brazil and Joao Grangeiro from Puerto Rico.
As a foreigner himself, Valdez said he was motivated to play harder because
of the USC lineup. “It was like a battle of the foreigners,” he
said.
Even though Figueroa lead the Trojans in kills each game, The beach only had
trouble with the Trojans in the first game.
The men play UC Santa Barbara Wednesday in The Walter Pyramid at 7:30 p.m.
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