long beach loses in 5

[pyramid watcher]

Pepperdine beat LBSU in 5 games - 5th game was not as close as the 15-10 score seems. LB played young, young young. Lots of mistakes. They'll be good next year.

[VBCrusin]

You're right...Long Beach has a young (no seniors) team. They played pretty good as a team. I agree...they will be very GOOD next year, BUT they're well balanced now. It was an exciting match, especially when they jumped all over Pepperdine in the first and third games.

I was very impressed with OH Scott Touzinsky (I believe he led the match in kills); Freshman Setter Tyler Hildebrand was very impressive, and should be a GREAT setter in these next few years. Very few true freshmen can come in and make an impact their first year. All in all, a well banced team together with Wooton, Coe, Lee. LB really dug some pretty hard hits. Long Beach could be a spoiler this year. Better watch them.

On the Pep side...MB Keenan turned the match around in the 4th game, with fellow assassins, Winters and Rooney with precision kills. Setter John Mayer keeps getting better, and the surprise of the night was Freshman MB, 6-11 Andy Hein who played well in the last game. Some key blocks and several quick hits. Pepperdine is starting to look pretty good, and are on their way to build some momentum...hope it lasts to the end of the season. Good match for both teams.

[Niner squared]

The "veterans" of the team, Wooten and Touzinsky, had way too many costly hitting errors in the last two games and ended up with horrible hitting percentages (both of them below .100). They looked worn down and intimidated by the Pepp block towards the end of the match. These two need to play tough in the clutch since they are the most experienced players. Meanwhile, Lee was deadly--lots of kills with a high percentage. Hopefully they can get him the ball more.

[pyramid watcher]

Have to admit that I was surprised the previous poster was impressed by Touzinsky. I don't think he played smart at all - hit as hard as he could directly into blocks, hit out - basically didn't produce. He might have been the kill leader, but only because he saw waaay too many sets. I wasn't impressed with the setting decisions, either. The middles were the ones being productive and were underutilized. It's hard to be successful when the go-to hitter (Touzinsky) is a back row hitter who is not succeeding. Now maybe this was a fluke match. It's the only one I've seen this year. The setter will get better with experience.

[vbdude]

The middle or quick hit is disrupted by bad passing and serve receive also. You are right , with a freshman setter ( playing very well I might add ) they will only get better and as Cruisin says watch out for Long Beach next year ( no seniors ) .As for Pepperdine Hein came in and played real well and will only get better . Mayer is also getting better each week. Keenan started out slow but finished with a bang, being the blocking machine he is in game 4 & 5. Pepperdine also had trouble with the middle sets tonight and IMO really need to set Keenan a lot more. to get the block off of thge other hitters.

[H2O]

All the above is true about the match (and no one grabbed their crotch). Touzinsky needs to develop a dink and a read to know when to dink. He's all full-power when he doesn't need to be. Kind of like the way Dave McKienzie was in his frosh and soph years. Haven't looked at the stats but he must have been hitting near negative. Wotton was more consistent, Lee had a good night and Tyler is learning how to set in D1. White, the libero, played well. It was fun to see them try to come back from being down 8-2 in the fifth. It was entertaining, even thought I did not like the outcome. Pepp go their block back and that was all she wrote.

[sweetieVBfan]

i think all of this is leading up to a great hawaii-long beach series. both teams, coming off losses, are super upset.

go warriors! go tyler hildebrand (my favorite long beach player)!

and don't get me wrong, i'm a diehard hawaii fan.