Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
8-6, 7-4MPSF
USC
10-1, 10-1MPSF
49ers lose in five sets to No. 1 USC
2/25/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
Feb. 25, 2011
LONG BEACH, Calif. - Jim Baughman and Mike Klipsch each had a double-double but it wasn't enough as No. 6 Long Beach State lost a five-set heartbreaker 23-25, 25-20, 25-23, 23-25, 15-12 to No. 1 USC at the Walter Pyramid in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match on Friday night.
Baughman finished with 21 kills and 10 digs, while Klipsch had 59 assists and 10 digs as the 49ers dropped their first home game of the season. Freshman Taylor Crabb added 16 kills and nine digs and libero Kirk Francis had 22 digs for the 49ers. Brad Hemmerling finished with 11 kills, while Ryan Meehan had 10 kills while hitting .562 (10-1-16).
Tony Ciarelli led the Trojans with 17 kills and 13 digs. Austin Zahn added 14 kills, Tri Bourne had 13 kills and 12 digs, and Murphy Troy chipped in 12 kills and 11 digs. Riley McKibben handed out 60 assists, while Henry Cassiday had 18 digs.
Long Beach State (8-6, 7-4 MPSF) jumped out early winning game one. The 49ers built a big lead and then held off a number of Trojan runs. LBSU scored the first five points with back-to-back kills by Hemmerling highlighting the run.
USC (10-1, 10-1 MPSF) crawled back to within a point four times (12-11, 13-12, 14-13, 15-14) before LBSU extended the lead back to five, 22-17, on a kill by Crabb. The Trojans wouldn't go away, scoring six of the next seven points to tie the game, 23-23.
The 49ers rallied behind Crabb. The freshman came up with an off balance kill off the block to give the 49ers the lead back and then Crabb finished it with another kill.
Crabb finished the game with a team-high six kills, while Baughman and Hemmerling added five kills each. Klipsch handed out 19 assists as five different 49ers had multiple kills in the game. LSBU hit a solid .390 in the game, while USC finished hitting .324. Francis had six digs in the game and the 49ers had two team blocks.
Game two started as a near replay of the first game. Long Beach State built three leads of five points, the first coming at 11-6 on a block by Crabb and Meehan and the last coming at 13-8 on a kill by Meehan.
USC stormed back again scoring seven of the next nine points to tie the game at 15 on a LBSU blocking error. LBSU regained the lead on a service error by the Trojans, but USC countered scoring eight of the next 10 points to take a 23-18 lead. LBSU got back within four on a service error by the Trojans and again on a kill by Baughman but USC finished the game with a kill by Steven Shandrick to win 25-20.
USC hit a blistering .440 in the game while Long Beach State struggled hitting just .107 after a fast start.
Game three was tight early with neither team leading by more than three while the teams battled to a 13-13 score. LBSU scored the next two points on a kill by Crabb and a block by Meehan and Baughman to take the lead, but USC rallied with the next four points to take a 17-15 lead.
After a LBSU point on a kill by Baughman, the Trojans scored four of the next five points to push the lead to four, 21-17. Long Beach State pulled within a point, 24-23, but Troy finished off The Beach with a kill to give USC a 2-1 lead.
The 49ers continued to struggle hitting just .139 in game three, while USC hit .233. Baughman had five of LBSU's 10 kills in the game, while Zahn had five kills for the Trojans.
For the third time in four games, Long Beach State jumped out big early building a six-point lead, 12-6, by Meehan and Baughman. USC came back scoring the next three points before Baughman snapped the streak with a kill. After another USC point, LBSU scored the next two points on a USC service error and a kill by Hemmerling to extend the lead back to five, 15-10.
USC went on another run scoring five-straight points and six of the next seven to force a 16-16 tie. The teams split the next 10 points to bring the game to 21-21, before LBSU scored two straight points on a block by Hemmerling and Aguillard and on a kill by Hemmerling off the USC block. USC got back within one, 24-23, but Crabb finished the Trojans off again to tie the match, 2-2.
Long Beach State won the fourth game despite hitting just .219, while USC managed to hit just .152. Meehan had four of LBSU's 11 kills in the game, including three in a row late in the set.
In the fifth set, the 49ers fell behind by two early but battled back to tie it at eight. USC answered with back-to-back points forcing Andy Read to call timeout.
LBSU came out of the timeout and cut the lead to one on a kill by Baughman before a kill by Aguillard tied it, 10-10, forcing USC to burn a timeout. A service ace by Baughman out of the timeout gave LBSU the lead. USC countered with a kill by Troy to tie it, 11-11.
Baughman gave the 49ers the lead right back, 12-11, with his 21st kill of the match. USC tied it, 12-12, with a block and took the lead on a kill by Shandrick. Ciarelli added a kill to give USC match point and Shandrick finished it for the Trojans with another kill.
