What a disappointing way for the season to end. On the way to the game tonight we were talking about this team versus last year’s Final Four one. We concluded that last year’s team was far more consistent but this year’s had a higher ceiling. Frankly everything we saw tonight only cemented that.
This team showed flashes of out-right brilliance. Bittner was his typical All-American self (30 kills but 15 errors), Jim Baughman had a breakout game (17 kills, 3 errors) and Dan Alexander was excellent in the middle as well (14 kills, 0 errors, and 4 block assists). But at the end of the day Long Beach State beat themselves (32 attack errors and 24 service errors), all the attacking prowess in the world isn’t able to overcome that.
As for Dustin Watten, his final game for Long Beach was another great one- 16 digs. It was a pleasure to see him (and his ‘stache) these last few years.
And we can only hope that Coach Knipe goes to London in 2012, does us proud (with Dean Bittner as his opposite hitter hopefully), and then comes back.
But frankly with or without Coach Knipe, men’s volleyball is Long Beach State’s best chance at a National Championship…unfortunately we’ll have to wait til next year to see if they can ever live up to that.
30-27…Pepperdine wins and advances on to the next round
29-27 Pepperdine oh what a bad time for two errors in a row…MATCH POINT PEPPERDINE
27-27 after a Pepperdine service error. Oh ho ho, how about a taste of our medicine…
26-26 Josh Riley is back, after a Dan Alexander kill…can he put this away?
25-25 How good would LBSU be without the errors? The world may never know
24-24 Kyle Friend comes off the bench to serve and an Alexander block ties it up
24-22 Pepperdine Bittner was saved from another hitting error by an errant Pepperdine touch but then what happens? He serves into the net.
23-21 Pepperdine Bittner hitting error
22-21 Pepperdine A Pestolesti service error and then a blocking error, and then a hitting error…not good times
21-19 Baughman kill, stop me if you’ve heard that one before. Tommy Pestolesti is back serving, here’s hoping he can keep putting them inbounds
19-19 Dino puts a stop to a Pepperdine run
17-17 I tried to say it before, I’ll try again…my kingdom for a serve inbounds
16-14 Beach Back-to-back Dan Alexander kills…the middles are the key (gee who’s been tellin ya that all night?)
14-14 LBSU is feelin’ it and then guess who? Service error…the bane of their existence
13-13 Derrick Trent was called in for his patented J-Serve (patent may be pending) and he has helped LBSU tie it up…Pepperdine time out
12-10 Pepperdine Baughman kill…the Freshman is having a HUGE game…feed the hot hand
12-9 Pepperdine LBSU Timeout. Unless Beach comes back this is Coach Knipe’s last game before leaving to coach the Olympic team. And Dustin Watten is staring his final game straight in the face too. Think those two guys can help the team find that extra gear?
11-9 Pepperdine Through 3 games Pepperdine has 25 block assists, LBSU has 2…they just blocked Bittner (again)
How’s this for weird- #1 seed UCI won the first two then #8 UCLA took the 3rd game, #3 CSUN won the first two then #6 BYU took the 3rd game…appartently every underdog got the same talking to
8-8 A Baughman kill and a service error…both very common tonight…LBSU timeout
7-7 A couple more LBSU errors tied this up
5-4 Beach Long Beach State, service error. I believe you two have met.
1-1 Dino’s got 27 kills but Baughman and Alexander have combined for 21 kills, 2 errors, on 29 swings…go to the middle more!
Running error totals- Long Beach 22 attack errors, 17 service errors; to Pepperdine’s 7 attack errors and 8 service errors…through 3 games LBSU has given away 39 points!!! But they’re not dead yet…can they win game 4?
30-23…Game 3 goes to the Beach Josh Riley not only got his serves in (muy importante) but on the game point he came up and dove to get a dig popping it up directly above him, Klipsch literally hurdled him to set it..since the Lakers didn’t blow their lead, maybe that karma is lingering for Pepperdine to blow this….Come On Long Beach all you need to do is think about winning game 4
29-23 Beach Josh Riley started this game off right now he’s back serving trying to end it right…game point LBSU
26-22 Beach Another LBSU timeout…Pepperdine has been struggling for most of this 3rd game but just in the last few they have put it together.
26-20 Beach The gym-giveth and the gym-taketh-away, Watten shanked a dig that would have gone into the stands but it hit the ceiling to stay in play…problem is it just gave Pepperdine another chance for a monster kill…LBSU timeout- they have got to close this game out now because the tide is turning (believe me, no pun intended…)
26-18 Beach LBSU has taken the Tennis approach- if they can hit guys on the fly then it can’t go out of bounds…I’m not positive but I think they’re just aiming for guys now to spike off of
25-17 Beach Pepperdine has a Aussie player and a Brazilian player and they know the “Aussie Aussie Aussie Oy Oy Oy”…they just can’t seem to tell the difference between the two
21-13 Beach Josh Riley back to serve for the Beach…my kingdom for a…crap another error…any high school senior reading this, spend the next 9 months practice a simple always-inbounds serve and this time next year you could be playing for the Beach
19-11 Beach Derrick Trent is subbed in simply for the ability to get a serve inbounds, that’s what we’ve come to
18-11 Beach …and another service error
17-10 Beach …and another service error
16-8 Beach Tommy Pestolesi kill…and then…a service error
13-5 Beach FYI- LBSU had literally zero blocks through the first two games
12-4 Beach Baughman two HUGE blocks on one play…where’s that been all night!?!
11-4 Beach I don’t think they can come all the way back, but do I think LBSU could win Game 3? Heck yeah, so one game at a time boys…another Baughman kill while Dino is getting his serves in
8-3 Beach Baughman and Alexander kills…more power to the middles…
6-2 Beach Had our first gym-related problem…Watten with a big dig that was hit so hard it bounced up and hit the (very low) ceiling, slamming down before anyone else could get to it…I miss the ‘Myd so much
6-1 Beach Riley Ace…keep ’em inbounds kid
4-1 Beach Josh Riley is getting his serves in and guess what, Long Beach has a lead. Bittner has 14 kills, Baughman has 10, Riley has 8 and Alexander has 6…LBSU has 39 kills to Pepperdine’s 27. Of course Pepperdine has 1/3 as many errors. (Also Watten is already double-digits in digs)
Through two games Long Beach has 18 attack errors and 11 service errors. That’s 29 points in just two games on errors alone. Suffice it to say that is not going to get it done
JJ just said “losing that first game ended this match.” I like this team, they have a lot of talent, but I think he’s right….prove me wrong Long Beach
Pepperdine is ranked 2 in MPSF, 3rd Nationwide, and they are up 2 games to none. If Long Beach comes back and advances it will take an epic comeback
30- 25…Game 2 goes to Pepperdine
29-24 Pepperdine…Game Point
28-24 Pepperdine The ol’ icing the server routine. We’re on to you Pepperdine. Oh who am I kidding it’s probably going to work. Wave timeout while Josh Riley is serving
27-21 Pepperdine Klipsch serving- there is zero margin for error now
25-20 Pepperdine Dean Bittner Service error. Followed by a Pepperdine service error.
23-18 Pepperdine Tommy Pestolesi is trying to serve LBSU back into this game so Pepperdine calls a timeout. If showing up is half the battle, surely getting the ball in play is a big part of it too. The Beach doesn’t need Aces from Tommy (or anyone else) it just needs serves inbounds.
22-15 Pepperdine Knock knock. Who’s there? Another service error….sorry I’m running out of ways to say that.
20-13 Pepperdine Twenty-thirteen is a big hole to climb out of, but they’re going to have to to avoid a 2-0 hole
18-11 Pepperdine Wave ace. Maybe it’s just because they have nothing better to do, but the Pepperdine student body is a force. They mess with Dan every time he’s back to serve, they harp on whoever just got blocked. They’re not the only reason, but something is in LBSU’s head
15-11 Pepperdine Baughman with another kill. LBSU is only down a few but the mistakes and frustration make it seem alot worse
12-7 Pepperdine LBSU was going on a run, then guess what? Service error. That is definitely the story of the night so far
9-3 Pepperdine Another Beach mistake, Coach Knipe is not happy
5-3 Pepperdine Baughman with another kill, Dino back serving. Clearly something’s open in the middle to exploit
3-1 Pepperdine LBSU had 7 service errors and 8 attacking errors in Game 1 and Game 2 is starting the same way
Looking at the stats from Game 1- Baughman had a quiet 6 kills and Dan Alexander added 3 more to go with Dino’s 9…clearly the middle blockers are putting up some points for Long Beach.
Pepperdine is just a big team- they don’t have a starter shorter than 6-5. If anyone saw CSUN when they came to Long Beach you’ll know that you don’t have to be tall to be good…but it helps. The Waves are just so big and strong on the net. Someone besides Dino is going to need to step up if LBSU has a chance.
30-28…Game 1 goes to Pepperdine
29-27 Pepperdine The Waves fans have started to pick on Dan Alexander while he’s serving and it seems to be working- he just put his second serving error. Game point- Pepperdine
26-26 Your favorite Libero and mine, Dustin Wattten with a huge dig to set up a Bittner kill and a tie game.
26-25 Pepperdine Long Beach has a couple of good points and gets Pepperdine to call their second timeout. They are finally putting up a presence at the net. Dan Alexander and Dean Bittner have a couple of kills each but almost no one else is doing much for the Beach offensively.
26-23 Pepperdine The Waves are just playing more consistently. LBSU will get one kill then make a mistake.
22-20 Pepperdine Another LBSU timeout. The Beach had been slightly ahead for most of the game without ever really looking good, but Pepperdine is starting to get in a groove.
18-18 Tied up for the first time since 2-2. Dino has had a few hitting errors in a row, no one else has gotten going either. Beach calls a timeout to try to regroup.
16-14 Beach Neither team has had a particularly strong blocking game tonight. And their have been quite a few service errors for both sides. Postseaon jitters?
13-10 Beach Pepperdine went on a little run but Dino put a stop to that.
9-6 Beach FYI- Pepperdine’s mascot is kinda scary looking. Picture the Kool-Aid guy as a Wave. It’s quite weird. Couple of service errors for Pepperdine have really given Long Beach an edge.
6-2 Beach Nice run by the Beach while Dino is serving causes Pepperdine to call an early timeout.
1-1 It is loud here. Pepperdine is out in force but even Long Beach has a healthy cheering section going.
Pre-game: Hey coming to you courtside from Pepperdine to watch your Long Beach Forty-Niners take on the Waves. This is one of the nicer high school gyms I’ve seen recently…oh it’s a college…well nevermind then.