Long Beach State University
12-13, 8-10MPSF
BYU
18-7, 14-6MPSF
LBSU falls 3-1 to BYU in MPSF action
4/2/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
April 2, 2010
LONG BEACH, Calif. - Four Long Beach State players finished with double-digit kills, but it wasn't enough to overcome BYU's Rob Stowell and Andrew Stewart who led the Cougars to a 30-26, 27-30, 30-22, 30-23 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation win over the 49ers on Friday night at the Walter Pyramid.
Stowell led the Cougars (18-7, 14-6 MPSF) with 26 kills on 35 swings and a .657 hitting percentage, while Stewart had 21 kills on 35 swings and a .457 hitting percentage. The Cougar duo led BYU to an impressive .460 team hitting percentage, while they also finished with 14 team blocks.
Tommy Pestolesi led The Beach (12-13, 8-10 MPSF) with 16 kills on 30 swings (.367), while Kyle Friend added 15 kills, Dean Bittner had 12 kills and Antwain Aguillard chipped in 10 kills. LBSU hit .273 for the match and hand nine service aces but it wasn't enough as it lost to BYU for the second straight night.
For the second night in a row The Beach got off to a tough start losing a tight game one. BYU built a four-point lead midway through the game at 16-12 and again at 17-13, but the 49ers battled back tying the game five times, the last at 24-24. The Cougars used a late game run to claim the early lead scoring six of the last eight points.
BYU's offense was much more efficient hitting .444 in the game, while LBSU struggled at .216. Bittner led the 49ers with six kills but hit just .083, while Aguillard had four kills on seven swings and Friend had three kills on six swings. Stowell almost single-handedly led BYU to the win with 11 kills on 12 swings with a .917 hitting percentage. Stewart added five kills for the Cougars.
The Beach rallied in game two to pull even. After falling behind by as many as five, 11-6, the 49ers scored six of the next seven points to tie the score at 12-12. LBSU took the lead at 14-13 on a service ace by Friend for its first lead since 1-0. Neither team led by more than two points until match point when Bittner finished the Cougars off with an ace.
Friend led The Beach with seven kills on 13 swings with a .462 hitting percentage. Pestolesi, Bittner and Dan Alexander all added three kills and no worse than a .400 hitting percentage between the three seniors. The Beach hit .351 as a team and had four service aces. BYU responded with a .306 hitting percentage and five team blocks, but no service aces. Stowell and Stewart each had six kills in the game with Stowell hitting .556.
BYU regained the momentum in game three. After battling to an 11-10 lead, the Cougars went on an 8-4 run to build the lead to 19-14. LBSU could never get closer than three the rest of the way as the Cougars took the lead in the match.
Both teams hit well in the match, but BYU was dominant at .654 while LBSU finished at .462. Pestolesi led The Beach with six kills on seven swings and hit .714. Stowell led BYU again with six kills on seven swings while hitting .714. Nobody for BYU with at least one kill in the match hit less than .600.
BYU finished LBSU off early in the fourth game. The Cougars jumped ahead on the first point of the game and never trailed en route to locking up the win. Pestolesi had five kills and a .364 hitting percentage but the 49ers hit just .094 as a team in the game. Stewart paced the Cougars in the game with six kills on six attempts as BYU hit .500 for the game and had five team blocks.
