Lotman & Bittner Lead 49ers To Win
Beach Improves to 4-0 With Four-Game Victory
January 11, 2008 | MEN'S VOLLEYBALL | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | FINAL | RECORDS | | Long Beach St. | 30 | 30 | 32 | 30 | - | 3 | 4-0, 2-0 MPSF | | Hawai'i | 32 | 20 | 30 | 26 | - | 1 | 1-4, 0-2 MPSF | Long Beach State Kill Leaders: Paul Lotman 26, Dean Bittner 26
UH Kill Leader: Nejc Zemljak 14, Jacob Schkud 14
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HONOLULU, Hawai'i -- The offensive prowess of senior Paul Lotman and sophomore Dean Bittner led sixth-ranked Long Beach State (4-0, 2-0 MPSF) to a 30-32, 30-20, 32-30, 30-26 win over No. 12 Hawai'i (1-4, 0-2 MPSF) on Friday evening at the Stan Sheriff Center. Lotman and Bittner each recorded 26 kills, season-high's for both, and a career-high for Bittner.
The 49ers hit an impressive .356 (77-20-160) in the match with a season-best 77 kills. Bittner and Lotman accounted for 52 of the 77 kills. Dan Alexander added 14 kills, Fletcher Anderson had six and Kyle Friend five. Friend also had three service aces for the 49ers. Alexander was the 49ers top hitter percentage-wise as he hit .560 (14-0-25). Setter Mike Klipsch had another strong outing finishing with a career-high 69 assists while adding four blocks. Defensively, libero Dustin Watten had a season-best 19 digs, while Lotman, Anderson and Alexander each had five blocks.
Nejc Zemljak and Jacob Schkud led Hawai'i with 14 kills apiece. The Warriors hit .213 in the match, but did not record a service ace. Hawai'i got off to a strong start hitting .455 (18-3-33) in game one, a 32-30 UH victory. But after that game the Warriors hit under .200 in each of the remaining three games.
In game four the 49ers rallied mid-way through the game. Down 16-12, the 49ers went on a 6-1 run, highlighted by back-to-back kills by Bittner, to take an 18-17 lead. With the game tied at 21, the 49ers used a mini 3-0 run to take a 24-21 lead and force a UH timeout. Hawai'i would get no closer than two points the remainder of the game.
Lotman's 26 kills moved him to No. 20 on the LBSU career chart. Lotman currently has 895 career kills.
The 49ers are home on Wednesday, January 16 when they host defending National Champion UC Irvine at 7 pm in the Walter Pyramid in the 49ers home opener.
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