Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
6-8, 3-7MPSF
UC San Diego
5-10, 2-8MPSF
49ers Edged by Tritons
2/24/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
No. 13-Ranked Long Beach State Upset by UCSD
LA JOLLA, CA -- UC San Diego (5-10, 2-8 MPSF) upset No. 13-ranked Long Beach State (6-8, 3-7 MPSF) on Saturday evening at the RIMAC Arena, snapping the 49ers 10-match win streak against the Tritons. Game scores were 25-30, 30-23, 20-30, 30-27, 15-9. Paul Lotman and Norm Hutton led the 49ers with 16 kills apiece, while Teddy Liles had 12 kills hitting for a .526 clip. Dean Bittner chipped in nine kills as he hit .500 on the evening. Dustin Watten posted 12 digs while Conor Eaton and Michael Iandolo combined for 56 assists as they directed the 49er offense to a .339 hitting percentage. Jason Spangler led the Tritons with 26 kills and a .391 hitting percentage. Frank Fritsch tallied 20 kills, while Will Ehrman had 19 kills hitting for a .519 clip. Eric Leserman had 12 digs and Brooks Dierdorff issued 68 assists as the Tritons hit .362 on the evening. The Tritons out-blocked the 49ers 12.5 to 9.0. The two teams were neck in neck in game one until the 49ers used a late 4-1 run, capped by a Liles kill to give Long Beach State the 30-25 victory. The 49ers hit .407 to the Tritons .281. UCSD never trailed in game two as they used a 7-3 run to close out the set giving them the 30-23 victory. The 49ers hit .333, but were outdone by the Tritons as they hit an impressive .633 for the set. LBSU came back in game three as they pulled ahead mid-way through the set to earn the 30-20 win. The 49ers went up 21-15 after a kill by Lotman, and did not look back as a Hutton kill ended the set. The 49ers held off five game points in the fourth set but could not pull off the comeback as a Fritsch kill gave the Tritons the 30-27 win, forcing a decisive fifth game. It was all UCSD in the final set as the Tritons jumped out to an early 10-5 lead. The 49ers never posed a threat as UCSD went on to win 15-9. The 49ers are next in action on Wednesday, February 28 as they return to the Walter Pyramid to host UCLA at 7 pm. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
