The Long Beach State men’s volleyball team tarnished Loyola-Chicago’s undefeated record with a 27-30, 30-26, 30-20, 31-29 nonconference victory, Tuesday night at the Walter Pyramid.
Sophomore Jim Baughman led the 49ers (10-7) with 23 kills on top of senior Tommy Pestolesi’s double-double performance with 20 kills and 12 digs on .500 hitting. Also with double digit kills were Dan Alexander with 14, Dean Bittner with 13 and junior Antwain Aguillard with 12.
The Ramblers (12-1) came out strong in the first set, hitting .560 and caught the 49ers looking a little sluggish. LBSU head coach Andy Read attributed his team’s slow start to Loyola’s strong play as well as a lack of serving on The Beach’s part.
“That’s [Loyola-Chicago’s] first loss of the year. That’s a good team and they were feeling good,” Read said. “We weren’t serving very good game one. Our guys got back into rhythm though.”
By the third set, the 49ers were red-hot, hitting .500 while holding the Ramblers to just .107. Pestolesi hit back-to-back aces to put LBSU up, 11-7. From there, The Beach never looked back and finished off the set with a Pestolesi kill.
Senior Conor Eaton played his best game of the season thus far, piling up 74 assists.
“We hit .431 thanks to the setting by Conor,” Read said.
The Beach closed the door in a hard-fought fourth set. With 15 ties and six lead changes in the set, LBSU never found itself up by more than a couple points. The 49ers allowed Loyola to tie the set at 29-29 after an LBSU service error.
The 49ers didn’t seem fazed though, and a Rambler hitting error allowed the home team to pull out a 31-29 set victory to finish the match.
Over the past couple of weeks, the play of Pestolesi has stood above the rest. Last week, he was named national and Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Week and continues to play a critical role in his team’s success.
“I just kind of learned to relax a little and not put so much pressure on what I do, and to play freely,” Pestolesi said of his recent play.
Spirits are high for The Beach as coaches and players expressed optimism about their chances of making it to the NCAA tournament.
“We’re a good team,” Pestolesi said. “We have the right personnel and players to make it.”
Read added that he is excited about what his team could accomplish, with seven of its final eight league matches being played at home.
LBSU returns to action against St. Francis (Pa.) on Friday at the Pyramid when it hosts the Active Ankle Tournament. Start time is set for 7 p.m.