Long Beach State University
2-4, 1-2MPSF
USC
5-1, 3-0MPSF
Bittner's 20 kills not enough against No. 1 USC
1/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
Jan. 20, 2010
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Dean Bittner had 20 kills to lead Long Beach State but it wasn't enough to overcome fellow All-American Murphy Troy who led No. 1 USC to a 30-28, 31-29, 30-23 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation win Wednesday night at the Galen Center.
Bittner's 20 kills marked the third time this season and the 32nd time during his career that he had 20 or more kills. He hit .356, but Troy countered with 20 kills of his own and a .421 hitting percentage.
Jim Baughman chipped in 10 kills for the 49ers, while Conor Eaton had 47 assists. The Beach hit .262 for the match compared to USC's .303 hitting percentage.
USC jumped out to an early lead in game one and led by as many as six points before The Beach battled back. Trailing 24-19, LBSU scored five of the next six points to pull within one (25-24) on a kill by Bittner.
USC called a time out to slow the 49ers rally and responded scoring three of the next four points to push the lead back to three. LBSU responded with a kill by Dan Alexander to get within two, but a service error by Alexander on the next play set up game point for the Trojans.
The Beach once again battled back scoring two straight points to bet back within one point, but Troy wouldn't let them get any closer finishing off the 49ers with a kill in game one.
Troy led the Trojans with seven kills in the game, while Tri Bourne had six. Baughman paced the 49ers with six kills and Bittner added five. Neither team attacked well with USC outhitting LBSU .222 to .209.
Long Beach State jumped out to an early lead in the second game looking to even the match. The 49ers led most of the way, but could never build a lead bigger than three points and were tied with USC 16 times in the game. Despite that, LBSU was serving for game point, at 29-28, but Troy answered for the Trojans with three straight kills to give USC a two game lead.
Troy had seven kills and hit .417 to led USC in the game. Tommy Pestolesi led LBSU with seven kills, while Bittner had five but hit just .214. As a team, Long Beach State hit .325 in the game, but 12 errors (six attack and six service) helped the Trojans, who hit .278, win the game.
The Beach battled early in game three and had the scored tied at eight, but USC scored six of the next seven points to take control and then pushed the run to 12 of the next 15 to build a 20-11 lead before closing out the match.
Bittner finished with 10 kills in the third game and a .450 hitting percentage, but Troy (6) and Tony Ciarelli (5) combined for 11 kills in the game to led the Trojans. USC hit a dominating .421 in the final game, while LBSU responded hitting .256.
