Long Beach State junior outside hitter Tommy Pestolesi had a career night at the Walter Pyramid on Wednesday.
Pestolesi recorded personal bests with 25 kills on .413 hitting to lead the No. 7 49ers over No. 8 UCLA in five sets. Pestolesi added six digs, as well.
“I’m just going out being aggressive,” Pestolesi said. “Things were going my way tonight.”
The ‘Niners won the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match-up 24-30, 30-24, 28-30, 30-22, 15-7.
At the net, LBSU dominated with 21 1/2 team blocks compared to UCLA’s eight.
“The block looks a lot better when the serve is on,” head coach Alan Knipe said. “We applied a lot of pressure with our serving. [We] did a nice job of finishing the plays.”
Pestolesi reiterated the importance of the serving and said, “It starts with the serve. We have become really disciplined.”
The 49ers (3-2, 2-0 MPSF) also received 22 kills, 11 block assists and two service aces from junior Dean Bittner, while middle blocker Dan Alexander chipped in eight kills and a match-high 14 block assists.
Sophomore setter Mike Klipsch added a 56-assist, 10-dig double-double for The Beach. Senior libero Dustin Watten led all players with 19 digs.
The Bruins (2-4, 1-2 MPSF) was paced by Garrett Muagututia’s double-double of 21 kills and 14 digs. Matt Wade and Kevin Ker each tallied 24 assists, while Jamey Ker contributed 14 digs.
After Bruin setter Kevin Ker started off the deciding set with a quick point, the 49ers countered with three straight points — highlighted a pair of kills from Pestolesi — to force a UCLA timeout. The short break didn’t slow down LBSU, which recorded four of the next six points to take a 7-3 lead and burn another Bruin timeout.
Leading 8-5, the ‘Niners made three blocks on a long rally, capped by Bittner and Alexander’s double block, to bring the crowd of 816 to its feet.
LBSU ended the set and match with four consecutive points to win, 15-7.
“We established our rhythm on the serve,” Knipe said. “We were creating a lot of out-of-system passes.”
The Bruins failed to register a positive hitting percentage in the final set, finishing at .000, to bring their match total to .157. The 49ers hit .400 in set five and .252 in the match.
The 49ers were plagued by a woeful .095 attack percentage in set three but responded with a .300 mark to force the deciding set.
LBSU tied the match at a set apiece with the help of Pestolesi’s nine kills. The 49ers also racked up 7 1/2 team blocks to hold UCLA to .062 hitting in the set.
The Bruins hit .417 behind Muagututia’s six kills to claim the opening set, 30-24, and limited the ‘Niners to a .161 clip.
“We came out a little passive but I give them credit to be able to right the ship,” Knipe said.
The Beach returns to the Walter Pyramid on Friday to face No. 5 UC Irvine at 7 p.m.
When these guys struggle, they struggle. As soon as I saw that our guys escaped against UCLA, I had some doubts about whether or not we could improve on our/deliver the same performance against UCI. Those fears were realized tonight. They looked like boys against men.
Somewhere down the road, they will have to grow up, learning to NOT drop these important games, especially when they have possession of the surfboard.