The 49er men’s volleyball team hit .433 as a unit to cruise past Pacific 30-22, 30-22, 30-21 in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation contest at the Walter Pyramid on Friday night.
Long Beach State (12-10, 8-7 MPSF) also proved too much for Pacific defensively, as the home team held the Tigers to just a .120 hitting percentage for the match.
The only 49er to record double-digit kills was sophomore Jim Baughman, who hit .500 to connect for 14 kills. Senior Tommy Pestolesi also hit .500 while contributing nine kills of his own.
Pestolesi and junior Kirk Francis led the LBSU defense with seven digs apiece, while senior Conor Eaton dished out 31 assists.
The Beach had lost its previous three matches coming into Friday’s showdown, but Baughman expressed relief and hope after the team ended its skid.
“We needed a game like this,” Baughman said. “We’ve kind of been in a slump, and hopefully, we can come out tomorrow and get a big win.”
In the first set, LBSU found itself in a stalemate with the Tigers (8-15, 0-15 MPSF). There was score was tied on 12 occasions, particularly in the first half of the set.
With the set tied, 14-14, the 49ers began to take control of the set and match. The Beach went on a run to go up, 23-17, and Pacific had no response. LBSU finished the set with a Baughman kill with the assist going to Eaton.
Beach head coach Andy Read said he was happy with the team’s effort.
“We came out and after the mid-point of game one, we just put the peddle to the metal,” Read said.
Still riding the momentum from the first set, Long Beach came out strong in the second, hitting a scorching .640 for the frame. Pacific still put up a fight and pulled to within five points at 21-16 before getting left in 49ers’ dust.
The third set was even more competitive than the second, but LBSU was still able to hold Pacific to a .000 hitting percentage. Long Beach stayed in control and closed out the match with ease.
Baughman praised his team’s setting as key factor in the win.
“The setting was really good,” Baughman said. “And we were rolling tonight.”
Pacific’s Florian Gornik led his team with 10 kills behind Kevin Downing’s 22 assists. Mark Bauhs led the defense with seven digs.
The 49ers return to the Pyramid floor tomorrow to face No. 1 Stanford at 7 p.m. Read said he hopes the sweep of Pacific will act as a confidence boost for his team.
“We got a good confidence win tonight,” Read said. “Hopefully tomorrow, we’ll be fresh because guess what, this is our gym, our home turf and you really want to throttle [Stanford].”