MONDAY, MARCH 22, 1999

McKienzie kills Cougars, sets NCAA record

By Greg Hanson

On-Line Forty-Niner

The Long Beach State men's volleyball team continued its domination with a five-game win over the No. 1 team in the nation, Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, on Friday night.

The highlight of the match was the play of 49er outside hitter David McKienzie, a sophomore. He set a NCAA record by recording 58 kills for the third-ranked 49ers.

The Beach won the battle 15-13, 15-9, 7-15, 9-15, 16-14, and improved their almost flawless record to 16-1, 13-1 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

It was the first loss of the season for the Cougars, who fell to 18-1 and 12-1.

This was the second season in a row the 49ers have defeated the No. 1 team in the nation on the road. They won at Pepperdine last year.

Long Beach setter Chris Seiffert had 106 assists in the match.

Middle blocker Matt Prosser had 13 kills and 14 digs, Scott Faber had 13 kills, 13 digs and 4 service aces, Curtis Jackson had 13 kills and 10 digs and outside hitter Jim Polster had 12 kills and 10 digs.

Brent Hilliard held the previous Long Beach State record of 53 kills, a feat that he accomplished twice, once in 1991 and again in 1993.

The Beach jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the first game, but BYU battled back to 14-13 before Long Beach closed out the game.

McKienzie had 18 kills for the 49ers in that game.

In the second game, which the 49ers won 15-9, McKienzie had 13 kills.

The Beach then lost the third and fourth games and trailed 14-12 in the fifth game before their miraculous comeback.

A service error by the Cougars made it 14-13 BYU in the fifth game and then three straight hitting errors by the Cougars gave Long Beach the win.

With the victory, the 49ers have now made it through the toughest part of their schedule, a stretch in which they beat BYU and UCLA on the road and Pepperdine, Hawaii and Lewis at home. All of those schools are ranked in the top ten.

The 49ers' final regular season home match is on Saturday at 7 pm in The Pyramid against USC.