The Long Beach State men’s volleyball team was unable to send its seniors out with a victory in Saturday’s season finale at the Walter Pyramid.
The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation contest saw the USC Trojans defeat the 49ers (12-17, 8-14 MPSF) in three quick sets, 30-25, 30-25, 30-23 in front of 1,025 fans. The 49ers concluded the season 10th in the MPSF standings, ensuring that they will miss out on the eight-team conference tournament.
LBSU head coach Andy Read was disappointed his departing players weren’t given a better ending to their collegiate careers.
“We wanted to send our seniors out with a win,” Read said. “That was important to us.”
Senior Dean Bittner led the LBSU attack with 11 kills as classmates Tommy Pestolesi and Dan Alexander both contributed eight kills to the ‘Niner offense.
Senior Conor Eaton dished out 37 assists and junior Kirk Francis led the defense with seven digs.
USC (16-12, 13-9 MPSF) came out strong as it held the lead from start to finish in the first set. The Trojans hit .536 in set one and never seemed threatened by the Long Beach attack.
The 49ers rallied in the end to put the frame within three points at 28-25 before USC scored the next two points to close out the set.
Set two was more competitive as LBSU took and held a lead for much of the early portion of the frame. The Trojans took a 22-21 advantage and never gave it back to finish off the set.
The third set saw The Beach’s attack drop to .032 while USC hit .382. With only one tie in the frame, USC was never in danger of dropping the set. With the Trojans holding match point, the 49ers looked to keep their season alive as they scored the next three points before a USC kill ended the set, 30-23.
“[USC] wanted to get on a roll,” Read said. “And, we didn’t play well enough to get the win.”
After the match, the 49ers honored their four seniors as Bittner, Alexander, Eaton and Pestolesi walked on to the court with their families and the Pyramid crowd applauded them for their careers at The Beach.
Read said it’s going to be difficult to replace the production of the departing seniors, but spoke optimistically of his returning players’ abilities.
“[Antwain] Aguillard is a key piece,” Read said. “And Jim Baughman, I really think, is the key if he can stay healthy.”
Pestolesi said he’ll never forget his time playing for the 49ers.
“It was a great experience,” Pestolesi said. “The best time of my life.”
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