By snoadmin
IRVINE – Needing just one more win for the right to play for the program’s second Division I national championship, the Long Beach State men’s volleyball team instead saw its season end Thursday night.
The No. 3-seeded 49ers were swept 3-0 by No. 2 Pepperdine (26-30, 21-30 and 26-30) in the NCAA semifinals at the Bren Events Center, failing to avenge last Thursday’s sweep to the same Waves team in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation semifinals.
“We’ve far exceeded most people’s expectations of where we would end up, other than maybe our own,” said LBSU head coach Alan Knipe. “We’re a sophomore- and freshman-dominated program right now, so I think we’ll have an opportunity to get back here and maybe play a little better.”
Pepperdine (17-11) lost in the national championship match, 3-1, to No. 1 Penn State (30-1) Saturday, giving the Nittany Lions their second national championship in program history. Penn St. won 27-30, 33-31, 30-25 and 30-23.
LBSU (23-7) was unable to contain the attacking trio of Paul Carroll, J.D. Schleppenbach and Cory Riecks, who combined for 41 kills in the three games led by Carroll’s 15. Schleppenbach also hit a staggering .778 to go with his 14 kills, while the Waves hit a tremendous .500 as a team compared to the 49ers’ .250 hitting percentage.
“[Schleppenbach] isn’t just a one-time deal,” said Waves head coach Marv Dunphy. “He had a good match a month ago against UCLA. He’s been really good the last part of the season … He’s just another option.”
Knipe inserted Tommy Pestolesi and Adam Schlesinger late in game two and stuck with the duo throughout game three. Schlesinger, a senior playing in his final game, made the most of his opportunity and finished with six kills on a .857 clip to try to help the 49ers survive another game. A starter at the beginning of the season, Pestolesi added five kills of his own and hit .667 to give LBSU “a culture change,” Knipe said.
“The decision to make the changes,” he said, “it was simply the guys who played best in practice. Especially the last couple of weeks, [Schlesinger’s] been unstoppable, so he was an easy one to put in there.”
Of the match, Schlesinger said, “When you’re playing in possibly the last match of the year, you really don’t need much motivation to play hard. I really treasured these opportunities.”
Also playing in his final game, fifth-year senior outside hitter and co-National Player of the Year Paul Lotman hammered seven of his 14 kills in game three. But he said his emotions were hard to keep under control, as Pepperdine keyed into slowing down Lotman’s production.
“I was really frustrated,” Lotman said. “As a hitter, I mean, every time I got set I just felt like there was a wall on the other side every time. I tried to deal with it as best as I could. It’s frustrating for me, and I tried not to show it and let my teammates see. Obviously, if I showed that, then they’re going to feed off that in a negative way.”
Lotman reflected on his final season and career as a 49er after the match and had no regrets.
“I’m glad I came to Long Beach,” he said. “I loved playing for Alan and the coaching staff we have – they’re the best coaching staff in the nation. I’m kind of sad that we didn’t win the whole thing, but I wouldn’t give anything back.”
Riecks, Carroll and Schleppenbach combined for 14 of the 16 kills for the Waves to lead the charge. Bittner recorded six kills in the game, while Lotman and Alexander added four apiece for the 49ers.
It was the seventh NCAA Tournament bid for LBSU, but the first time the team failed to reach the championship match in those appearances.
