Photo by John Fajardo
Despite a Herculean effort from Dean Bittner, who had a season-high 38 kills in the match, the Long Beach State men’s volleyball team fell just short against UC Santa Barbara, losing in five sets 30-24, 26-30, 31-33, 30-22, 15-13. “He carried us on his back for four and a half sets,” head coach Andy Read said of Bittner. “That’s all we could ask him to do.” It was the third meeting between the 49ers and Gauchos this year, with Long Beach taking both of the first two in five-set decisions.
Asked whether playing two matches in two days winded the team, Read said, “We gotta be ready to play—we played hard for five sets, I’ll take that.” Read also said injured starter Kyle Friend will be out another week with his severely sprained ankle.
In addition to Bittner’s sixth career 30-plus kill match, junior Antwain Aguillard was impressive again, with 11 kills and a team-high .471 hitting percentage, providing an imposing presence in the middle with four blocks. Senior Conor Eaton directed the offense with 63 assists, while junior Kirk Francis anchored the defense with 14 digs.
Jeff Menzel paced UC Santa Barbara with 34 kills and 11 digs, and was unbelievable in the fifth set, while Cullen Irons (15 kills) and Scott Slaughter (13 kills) also finished in double figures.
The two teams traded points in the early going, but UCSB was able to pull ahead 18-11, thanks to a 9-2 spurt midway through the first set. The Beach fought its way back and cut the deficit to two after a block by Bittner and senior Dan Alexander made it 22-20. The Gauchos then went on an 8-4 run, capped by a Menzel ace, to take game one, 30-24.
Behind 12 kills from Bittner in the second set, Long Beach State evened the match at one game apiece with a 30-26 victory. UC Santa Barbara took an early 12-9 lead before the 49ers scored three straight points to tie it up. LBSU then proceeded to go on an 8-4 run, capped by a Bittner kill, to pull ahead 20-16. The Gauchos eventually came back to even the score at 23-23, but The Beach was able to hold on as a Menzel hitting error ended the set.
LBSU and UCSB went point-for-point in a tightly played third game that saw 23 tie scores. The Gauchos held the largest lead of the set at 17-14, but the 49ers came back and eventually tied it up at 20-20 on an Aguillard kill. The Beach went up 30-29 after a kill by senior Tommy Pestolesi, but the Gauchos were able to hold off two game points until a Bittner kill sealed the 33-31 victory.
In the fourth set, UCSB used a late run to pull away with a 30-22 win. The Gauchos scored four unanswered points to take a 22-17 advantage and led by at least four the rest of the way.
UC Santa Barbara (6-7, 5-4 MPSF) once again used a late run to take a 14-11 lead on a Jake Rosener ace in the decisive fifth set. LBSU was able to stave off two match points, with a Bittner kill and a UCSB hitting error, before the visitors called a well-taken timeout as freshman Dalton Ammerman missed his serve coming out of the break.
Long Beach State returns to action on Thursday, Feb. 18, when it welcomes Cal Baptist to the Walter Pyramid for a 7 p.m. (PST) non-conference showdown.
From LBSU reports