Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
5-6, 1-5MPSF
Pacific
4-8, 2-5MPSF
49ers suffer 3-1 setback to No. 15 Pacific
2/11/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
Feb. 11, 2012
LONG BEACH - The ninth-ranked Long Beach State men's volleyball team suffered a 19-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-19, defeat to No. 15 Pacific Saturday evening at the Walter Pyramid.
The loss snapped LBSU's nine-match winning streak in the all-time series as it was the 49ers' first setback to the Tigers since 2007.
Sophomore Taylor Crabb led Long Beach State with his second consecutive double-double, registering a team-high 14 kills and 11 digs. Senior Jim Baughman chipped in 13 kills, while sophomore Jeff Ornee finished with nine kills and five blocks. Senior Ryan Meehan also had nine kills, three blocks and two aces.
The 49ers (5-6, 1-5 MPSF) were in complete control in the first set on the way to a 25-19 win behind seven kills on 10 swings from LBSU's middle blockers, Meehan and Ornee. Long Beach State moved ahead by five points at 12-7 on an ace from Crabb, one of three for the 49ers in the set. In all, LBSU hit .375, and was never threatened, at one point opening an eight-point lead.
Pacific (4-8, 2-5 MPSF) turned the momentum in set two. The Tigers pulled out front 12-9 on a double block before Long Beach State came back to tie it up at 15-15. The 49ers then took the lead on a hitting error by Dylan Walker, but Pacific answered by scoring the next four points and eventually claimed the second set, 25-21.
An ace from Taylor Hughes gave the Tigers an early lead, but the third set was very close throughout. Tied at 10-10, Pacific scored two straight points on back-to-back kills from Sean Daley, but Long Beach State was able go up, 17-16, following a kill from Baughman. The Tigers came back to reclaim the lead, and after holding a two-point edge at 22-20, they prevailed, 25-23.
The two teams were neck-in-neck early in set four and it was knotted up at 10-10 before Pacific pulled ahead with four unanswered points. The Tigers then played a sideout game before taking a 21-15 lead on a double block of Meehan's attack from the middle. The visitors never looked back from there as another Pacific block ended the match at 25-19.
Pacific hit .321 on the night and was led by Florian Gornik, who notched a match-high 20 kills. He also finished with eight digs and seven blocks. Taylor Hughes chipped in 12 kills and Sean Daley had 10 kills and no errors on 12 attempts for an .833 hitting percentage.
Long Beach State will host No. 1 UCLA in its next match at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 14 in the Walter Pyramid.
