It was déjà vu all over again for the men’s volleyball team Friday night.
The Long Beach State 49ers dropped another tough five-set match, this time to the third-ranked Pepperdine Waves 30-21, 30-24, 30-32, 26-30, 12-15.
After winning the first two sets of this Mountain Sports Pacific Federation match, the ‘Niners were on the verge of a victory at the Walter Pyramid. But similar to Wednesday’s game against Southern California, The Beach was not able to secure the win.
In the first set, LBSU was down 10-6 but reeled off six straight points to take the lead. The 49ers used that momentum to take the first and second sets while never trailing in the second frame.
Things became interesting in the third set as Waves opposite Paul Carroll had 11 of his team-high 31 kills to help close the gap. Long Beach did not help its cause by committing five serving errors during crucial points in the set.
LBSU was up 24-22 in the fourth set and Pepperdine was able to outscore the 49ers 8-2 to even up the match at two sets apiece.
Long Beach State (8-8, 7-6 MPSF) had five players with double-digit kills. Junior opposite Dean Bittner had a career-high 33 kills, sophomore outside hitter Josh Riley tallied 19 , freshman middle blocker Jim Baughman added 13 and junior middle blocker Dan Alexander chipped in with 10. Junior outside hitter Tommy Pestolesi finished with a double-double of 12 kills and 15 digs.
Senior libero Dustin Watten had a game-high 16 digs while sophomore setter Mike Klipsch compiled 74 assists.
The Waves out-blocked the ‘Niners by a total of nine blocks en route to victory.
The No. 6 49ers’ next match will be Friday, March 13 at the Walter Pyramid against the IPFW Mastodons at 7 p.m. as they hope to end their three-game skid.
