BYU Rallies to Defeat LBSU, 3-2
49ers Suffer First Home and MPSF Loss of the Season
January 28, 2004 LONG BEACH, CA – The BYU Cougars men's volleyball team rallied from an 0-2 match deficit to defeat the No. 2-ranked 49ers of Long Beach State, 3-2, in an MPSF match in the Pyramid on Wednesday evening. Game scores were: 25-30, 28-30, 32-30, 30-25, 16-14 in favor of BYU.
Long Beach State fell to 7-2 (3-1 MPSF), while BYU improved to 4-3 (2-1 MPSF).
David Lee and Jeff Wootton paced The Beach with 18 kills each. In fact Lee's 18 kills were a season-high. Wootton also added a season-high eight digs to his totals. Scott Touzinsky added 17 kills, two aces, seven digs, and four blocks. Sophomore Tyler Hildebrand compiled 63 assists, two kills, two aces, and six digs. Hildebrand, tonight, became the sixth player since 1988 to record 2,000 or more career assists. Hildebrand's career assist total stands at 2,061. As a team, Long Beach State hit for a .349 percentage (75-24-146), and were out-blocked (14-8), and out-dug (34-33). Five Cougars hit for double-digits in kills: Fernando Pessoa (20), Victor Batista (18), Jonathan Alleman (17), Joe Hillman (14), and Chris Gorny (12). BYU hit for a .379 clip (84-26-153), Carlos Moreno had 71 assists to lead the BYU offense.
Despite taking a commanding 2-0 match lead, the 49ers dropped the third game 32-30. The Cougars in the third set had game point at 30-29 after a Pessoa kill. The Beach countered with a Nate Hagstrom kill to even the score at 30-30. A Batista kill followed by a 49er attack error gave the Cougars the eventual game win.
In the fifth set, BYU rallied from a 13-12 deficit, with another Batista kill and another LBSU attack error to take a 14-13 lead. A Cougar service error squared the game at 14. But two straight kills by Batista and Gorny ended the match.
Both teams battle once again on Friday, January 30 at 7:30 p.m. in The Pyramid.
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