The 49er men’s volleyball team displayed its heart in the fifth set to close out UC Irvine for a five-set victory Wednesday night at the Walter Pyramid.
No. 9 Long Beach State (7-6, 5-4 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) rallied from a four-point deficit to claim the match from No. 11 UC Irvine, 28-30, 30-20, 30-23, 28-30, 15-12. The win allowed the 49ers to redeem themselves after a 3-1 loss to the Anteaters (8-9, 4-8 MPSF) earlier this season at the Elephant Bar Tournament.
“We opened a door for [UC Irvine] in the fifth [set],” LBSU head coach Andy Read said. “If you open [the door], you better know how to shut it.”
The Beach started off slow and found itself down, 10-6, in the fifth set. The 49ers crawled back, though, in large part because of senior Dan Alexander’s serving.
Alexander topped off his service with an ace to put LBSU up, 12-11, for its first lead of the set.
“We knew if we sideout, the next person can take it to them with the next serve,” senior Dean Bittner said. “We took it to them. [Alexander] has done it before.”
Junior Antwain Aguillard finished out the match with a dominating block.
LBSU was led by senior Tommy Pestolesi, who put up season-highs in kills with 24 and hitting percentage at .488. Bittner added 16 kills while Alexander contributed 11 kills on .500 hitting.
Aguillard also had double-digit kills with 10. Senior Conor Eaton passed it around, finishing with 56 assists. Kirk Francis led the defense with 13 digs and Pestolesi had nine digs of his own.
LBSU allowed the Anteaters to steal the fourth set to extend the match.
In the fourth set, the 49ers seemed to be in control. Up 25-22, The Beach could have shut the door on the match, but the Anteaters had plans of their own as they surprised LBSU by stealing the set, 30-28.
“They came in with some fire towards the end … Barely snuck one by,” Bittner said of UCI winning the fourth set.
Read said he wasn’t surprise by the Anteater rally.
“I think we relaxed a little bit,” Read said. “[The Anteaters] are the reigning champions and they have the confidence.”
After losing the first set hitting just .186, The Beach turned on the heat and hit .500 in a dominating second set where the team never gave up the lead. LBSU held Irvine to .150 and finished out the set, 30-20.
The 49ers kept up the strong play in the third set, winning it 30-23. The Anteaters hit a measly .050 while LBSU hit an impressive .500 in the set.
Sophomore Carson Clark led UC Irvine with 15 kills while sophomore Kevin Carroll added 14 kills for .444. Freshman Ian Wynne contributed 39 assists.
LBSU embarks on a three-game road trip starting at UCLA on Friday at 7 p.m.