Long Beach State rallied from a 2-1 games deficit against UC Santa Barbara to win its Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opener 23-30, 30-24, 24-30, 30-26, 15-9 Wednesday night in Santa Barbara.
The Beach (2-2, 1-0 MPSF) trailed 5-3 in the deciding fifth set when senior Dan Alexander stepped up and almost single handedly led the 49ers to the win. Long Beach State scored points on six straight serves by Alexander, including four aces by the middle blocker. Sophomore Jim Baughman added a fifth ace and two kills in the final set, while senior Dean Bittner capped the comeback with back-to-back kills.
LBSU finished with seven aces in the match, five coming in the fifth game. Alexander had five aces and 10 kills (.421 hitting percentage) to lead the 49ers, while Baughman had two aces, a team-best 19 kills and a team-high 10 digs. Bittner chipped in 19 kills for the 49ers who won despite hitting just .200 for the match. Conor Eaton had 53 assists.
The Beach got off to a bad start losing the first game hitting just .030. UCSB jumped out early in the set building an 11-5 lead. LBSU battled back getting within two, 15-13, on a Gaucho error, but that was as close as the 49ers could get eventually losing by seven.
Long Beach State bounced back winning the second set behind .296 hitting by the team. After falling behind 5-3, the 49ers scored five straight points to take an 8-5 lead on a UCSB error. LBSU would lead the rest of the way winning the set on a kill by Bittner.
UCSB (0-4, 0-1 MPSF) came back early in the third game scoring the first four points eventually building a 10-3 lead on a block by Sam Moisenco. The Beach climbed back within two at 18-16 on a kill by Bittner, but the Gauchos scored the next three points to pull away and eventually take a 2-1 set lead. The Gauchos hit an impressive .368 in the set after hitting just .179 and .167 in the first two sets.
The 49ers won the fourth set to force a fifth game. UCSB struggled hitting just .083 to allow the fifth game, while LBSU hit .231.
Reports From LBSU