Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
11-11 (6-10)
Pepperdine
19-1 (15-1)
Waves Come Back on Beach
3/24/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
Waves Come Back on Beach
LONG BEACH, CA -- No. 1-ranked Pepperdine (19-1, 15-1 MPSF) came back from a two game deficit to overcome No. 8-ranked Long Beach State (11-11, 6-10 MPSF) in five sets on Saturday evening in the Walter Pyramid. The 49ers, who have been the only team to beat the Waves this year, couldn't put them away the second time around as Pepperdine extended their win streak to 16 matches. Game scores were 23-30, 33-35, 30-20, 33-31, 15-12. Paul Lotman led the 49ers with 20 kills and four digs, while Dan Alexander and Daniel Fabry each had a career-high 17 kills on the night. Teddy Liles finished with a season-high 16 kills and Tyler Caldwell led the defense with nine digs. Conor Eaton dished out 63 assists as LBSU hit .241. Paul Carroll notched a double-double for Pepperdine as he had 32 kills and 10 digs while hitting .431. J.D. Schleppenbach tallied 15 kills and Jon Grobe chipped in 14 kills. Jonathan Winder had 67 assists as he directed the Waves offense to a .351 hitting percentage. Pepperdine out-blocked LBSU 22 to 10.5, led by Tom Hulse's 15 blocks. Long Beach State used a late run in game one to run away with a 30-23 win. The 49ers jumped out to an 11-7 lead after a hitting error by Greg Gaudino, but Pepperdine crept back within one point (20-19) after a block by Carroll and Hulse. The 49ers then proceeded to go on a 10-4 run capped by a solo block from Liles to end the set. LBSU hit only .194 in game one, but were able to hold the Waves to a .067 hitting percentage. In a tightly played second set, the 49ers held off four game points to pull out a 35-33 victory. LBSU held an 18-14 lead after an ace by Alexander before Pepperdine tied it up at 23-23 with a 49er hitting error. The game saw 10 more tie scores before a kill by Lotman ended the set. Both teams improved their hitting efficiency as LBSU hit .436 to Pepperdine's .441. The Waves took control in game three as they earned the 30-20 win. Pepperdine jumped out to an early 8-2 lead on a kill by Grobe. The 49ers were able to pull within four points (16-12) after a Lotman ace, but the Waves then went on a 9-1 run to take a 24-14 lead. LBSU held off four game points but couldn't overcome the deficit as a Carroll kill ended the set. Pepperdine out-hit the 49ers .414 to .162 in the third game. Despite holding a 29-27 lead in game four, the 49ers dropped the set to the Waves by a score of 33-31. LBSU went up 14-11 after a kill by Alexander, but Pepperdine tied it up at 17-17 with a Carroll kill. The 49ers then went on a 6-1 run to take a 22-18 lead, but the Waves came back again to tie it up at 27-27. LBSU scored the next two points to go up 29-27, but they couldn't put the Waves away as a Pepperdine block ended the set. The 49ers were out-hit again .441 to .195. In game five, Pepperdine jumped out to a 9-6 lead after a Carroll kill and held on for the 15-12 victory. The 49ers will return to action next week when they travel to Provo, Utah to take on BYU in back to back matches on Thursday, March 29 and Friday, March 30. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
