Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
19-3, 14-2
BYU
17-4, 12-4
49ers Win In Four Over BYU
3/21/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
March 21, 2008
LONG BEACH, Calif. - Paul Lotman led four Long Beach State players in double figure kills with 24 as the fourth-ranked 49ers defeated third-ranked Brigham Young 30-25, 30-26, 28-30, 30-24 on Friday evening at the Walter Pyramid. Long Beach improves to 19-3 overall and 14-2 in the MPSF with the victory, while the Cougars fell to 17-4 and 12-4 in league action.
Lotman also added three aces, seven digs and five blocks as Long Beach hit .338 in the match against a tough BYU defense. Dean Bittner had 22 kills and six blocks, Josh Riley had a career-high 11 kills and Dan Alexander rounded out the scoring with 10 kills and a team-high seven blocks. The 49ers had nine service aces in the match and out-blocked the Cougars 14.0 to 12.0. In the back row, Dustin Watten dug a match-high 12 balls and Bittner added eight digs.
Ivan Perez, who had just 10 kills in Thursday's three-game loss, kept the Cougars in the contest finishing with 26 kills and 10 digs while hitting .354. Andrew Stewart had 12 kills and Russell Holmes seven. BYU had just two aces on the evening and 17 service errors. Trent Sorensen led BYU at the net with eight blocks. BYU hit .266 in the match.
In the opening game the 49ers took the lead early at 9-6 and pushed the advantage to 15-10. After the Cougars closed to 19-16, Long Beach used a 5-2 run to grab a 24-18 lead en route to the 30-25 win. The 49ers hit .455 (20-5-33) in the game and Bittner had nine kills. Game two saw the 49ers rally from a 19-17 deficit, to eventually win 30-26. The 49ers led 26-25, but closed out the game with a 4-1 run. The final two points came on 49er kills on BYU overpasses of Fletcher Anderson serves. Lotman had seven kills and Alexander six.
The Cougars stayed in the contest by winning game three 30-28. The Cougars hit .406 (15-2-32) in the game and Perez tallied six kills as BYU rallied from an early 14-10 deficit. BYU led 26-23 and seemed in command before the 49ers tallied two quick points to pull to within 26-25. The Cougars got a quick side-out and then pushed the lead to 29-27 before winning 30-28.
Game four was a game of runs by both teams. BYU led 10-9 before Long Beach used a 7-2 run to take a 16-12 lead. After a Cougar timeout, BYU went on a 5-0 run to grab a 17-16 advantage. The game was still close as the 49ers led 24-23, but Long Beach closed out the game with a 6-1 run to win going away 30-24.
The 49ers will next be in action on Thursday, March 27 when they play at UC Irvine.
