Post by bigfan on Apr 29, 2005 9:16:06 GMT -5
Fans give LBSU boost over Peperdine
If Saturday's match is anything like Thursday evening, then Pepperdine's Firestone Fieldhouse might implode in a hail of Long Beach State points and rambunctious 49er fans.
The final tally for the LBSU men's volleyball team after Thursday's Mountain Pacific Sports Federation semifinal match against UC Santa Barbara included one revenge for losing two of three regular-season matches to the Gauchos, two shifted press tables, and a 30-20, 30-24, 30-25 win that led to a second consecutive berth in Saturday's MPSF final against the host Waves.
"The nice thing, if there is a good thing about losing matches against them, we felt like we had opportunities to win both the matches," 49ers coach Alan Knipe said. "Tonight, we were up, and we had to finish. And the guys did a good job."
If the 49ers saw the match as "unfinished business," then they spent much of the match watching the Gauchos fail to take care of their own "business." UCSB (16-14) committed 22 hitting errors and 19 service errors for a total of 41, and nearly half of the 49ers' total points in the match.
"That's not going to win many volleyball games," said UCSB coach Ken Preston, who saw the 49ers commit only 13 hitting errors and 12 service errors in the match. "(The 49ers) are playing great, I think they're the best team in the country right now."
Since the Feb.18 loss to the Gauchos dropped the 49ers to 9-5 and began a three-match losing skid, the 49ers have scored wins in 13 of their last 15 matches, including a sweep of then-No 1 Pepperdine at the Walter Pyramid March31. The Waves (22-2) beat Cal State Northridge 32-30, 30-28, 28-30, 30-19 in the first semifinal to advance.
The 49ers took the floor Thursday with the intention of joining the Waves in that final, and took their first lead of the night at 10-9 on a block by Yassir Sliti, who had three blocks to go with a match-high 16 kills. He hit into the net a few points later to make it 12-12, but that was the last mistake the 49ers made as they won 30-20.
"We pride ourselves on trying to stick to a system," said 49ers setter Tyler Hildebrand, who had a match-high 37 assists. "When you touch and control the players over and over, or stuff the guy for a point, they try to find other ways to get kills. And that's when they hit balls out, or hit balls in the net."
"We knew we got beat by these guys twice when we shouldn't have, they're the only team that's beaten us twice in MPSF play," Sliti said. After leading the second game 7-6, the 49ers ran away with it as UCSB only got close when it was no longer in doubt, at 29-24. In the third game, the two teams locked horns as they vied for the lead, tying at every point between 1-15 with the exception of an 11-9 49er advantage.
LBSU finally pulled away late, getting a kill from Robert Tarr (10 kills) for a 25-23 advantage, and another from Teddy Liles for a 26-23 lead. Finally, in a fitting end to an evening full of Gaucho blunders, UCSB's Evan Patak (14 kills) hit into the net for the decisive point.
Now, a season after playing for the national title and finishing second, the 49ers (22-9) are right back in position to do so again, despite the loss of five players from that 28-7 team. Even if LBSU falls to Pepperdine on Saturday, the 49ers may still find themselves at UCLA next week for the national semifinals, as the at-large entry usually comes from the MPSF.
If Saturday's match is anything like Thursday evening, then Pepperdine's Firestone Fieldhouse might implode in a hail of Long Beach State points and rambunctious 49er fans.
The final tally for the LBSU men's volleyball team after Thursday's Mountain Pacific Sports Federation semifinal match against UC Santa Barbara included one revenge for losing two of three regular-season matches to the Gauchos, two shifted press tables, and a 30-20, 30-24, 30-25 win that led to a second consecutive berth in Saturday's MPSF final against the host Waves.
"The nice thing, if there is a good thing about losing matches against them, we felt like we had opportunities to win both the matches," 49ers coach Alan Knipe said. "Tonight, we were up, and we had to finish. And the guys did a good job."
If the 49ers saw the match as "unfinished business," then they spent much of the match watching the Gauchos fail to take care of their own "business." UCSB (16-14) committed 22 hitting errors and 19 service errors for a total of 41, and nearly half of the 49ers' total points in the match.
"That's not going to win many volleyball games," said UCSB coach Ken Preston, who saw the 49ers commit only 13 hitting errors and 12 service errors in the match. "(The 49ers) are playing great, I think they're the best team in the country right now."
Since the Feb.18 loss to the Gauchos dropped the 49ers to 9-5 and began a three-match losing skid, the 49ers have scored wins in 13 of their last 15 matches, including a sweep of then-No 1 Pepperdine at the Walter Pyramid March31. The Waves (22-2) beat Cal State Northridge 32-30, 30-28, 28-30, 30-19 in the first semifinal to advance.
The 49ers took the floor Thursday with the intention of joining the Waves in that final, and took their first lead of the night at 10-9 on a block by Yassir Sliti, who had three blocks to go with a match-high 16 kills. He hit into the net a few points later to make it 12-12, but that was the last mistake the 49ers made as they won 30-20.
"We pride ourselves on trying to stick to a system," said 49ers setter Tyler Hildebrand, who had a match-high 37 assists. "When you touch and control the players over and over, or stuff the guy for a point, they try to find other ways to get kills. And that's when they hit balls out, or hit balls in the net."
"We knew we got beat by these guys twice when we shouldn't have, they're the only team that's beaten us twice in MPSF play," Sliti said. After leading the second game 7-6, the 49ers ran away with it as UCSB only got close when it was no longer in doubt, at 29-24. In the third game, the two teams locked horns as they vied for the lead, tying at every point between 1-15 with the exception of an 11-9 49er advantage.
LBSU finally pulled away late, getting a kill from Robert Tarr (10 kills) for a 25-23 advantage, and another from Teddy Liles for a 26-23 lead. Finally, in a fitting end to an evening full of Gaucho blunders, UCSB's Evan Patak (14 kills) hit into the net for the decisive point.
Now, a season after playing for the national title and finishing second, the 49ers (22-9) are right back in position to do so again, despite the loss of five players from that 28-7 team. Even if LBSU falls to Pepperdine on Saturday, the 49ers may still find themselves at UCLA next week for the national semifinals, as the at-large entry usually comes from the MPSF.
