With Reports From LBSU
Walking into the ‘Myd on Wednesday night, it just felt like five.
With the visiting No.8 UCLA Bruins looking to remain above .500 in the MPSF, and the No.7 Long Beach State 49ers looking to remain perfect in the MPSF, a classic battle was imminent.
It went back and forth for five sets with 21 tie scores and seven lead changes, but in the end the 49ers rode the momentum off a fourth set win to a five set victory, 24-30, 30-24, 28-30, 30-22. Tommy Pestolesi had a career-high 25 kills to help Long Beach State rally from a 2-1 deficit and knock off UCLA.
Pestolesi added a career-high .413 hitting percentage in the match and Dean Bittner chipped in 22 kills. Mike Klipsch handed out 56 assists and had 10 digs, while Dustin Watten had a match-high 19 digs and more floor energy than anyone in the building.
The Beach, ranked seventh in the Bison/AVCA Division I-II Men’s Coaches Top 15 Poll, struggled hitting most of the match (.161 in first set, .095 in third) but stepped it up the final two sets (.300 in fourth, .400 in fifth).
UCLA (2-4. 1-2) jumped out early winning the first set behind a .417 hitting percentage as a team, while The Beach (3-2, 2-0) couldn’t recover after falling behind 14-20. Bittner led the 49ers in the set with six kills and a .286 hitting percentage. Three UCLA players hit over .500 in the opening set.
LBSU rallied to tie the match winning the second set behind great play on the outside from, Pestolesi, who sparked the 49ers to the win hitting .615 with nine kills. Dan Alexander had four block assists in the game, while Bittner hit .417 with six kills.
UCLA took a 2-1 lead winning the third set as both teams stepped their game up at the net and the offenses struggled. The Bruins hit just .167 but the 49ers managed just a .095 hitting percentage. Pestolesi finished with eight kills and a .462 hitting percentage but was the only Beach player to have a good set.
Long Beach State tied it at 2-2 winning the fourth set convincingly as UCLA never got closer than three points after an Alexander/Bittner block make it 16-12. LBSU outhit the Bruins .300 to .036. Pestolesi and Bittner had five kills a piece in the set.
The Beach rode the momentum after winning the fourth going away, and in the fifth and deciding set, they built a 7-3 lead behind Pestolesi’s two kills and a big block by Bittner, forcing UCLA to take a time out.
The Bruins came out of the timeout and scored the next point, but a service error made it 8-4. UCLA answered with a point, but The Beach built it the lead back to 9-5 on another block by Bittner and Alexander. Bittner added a kill off the block to push the lead to 10-5.
UCLA cut the led to 10-6, but Bittner answered with a kill to push the lead to 11-6. Again UCLA tried to claw it’s way back in, and Brett Perrine cut the lead to 11-7 with a kill. But freshman Jim Baughman responded with a kill off a set from Klipsch. Kyle Friend added an ace to make it 13-7.
A pair of hitting errors by UCLA wrapped up the win for The Beach and have the 49ers feeling good.
“We were pretty passive with our serving early on,” said coach Alan Knipe, who is known for coaching the aggressive service game. “Our guys were passing some real tough serves down the stretch. We applied a lot pf pressure on them with our serving and we racked up a lot of blocks as the match went on.
The biggest stat of the game has to be Long Beach State’s 21.5 total team blocks to UCLA’s 8 team blocks.
Check out some highlights