The No. 11 Long Beach State men’s volleyball team rallied from a 2-1 deficit Wednesday night to upset third-ranked Pepperdine, 26-24, 18-25, 21-25, 25-18, 15-12, in its Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opener at Firestone Fieldhouse.
The 49ers turned it around in the fourth set, racing out to an 11-5 lead on junior Jim Baughman’s kill. After the Waves cut the deficit to 15-13, LBSU went on a 5-2 run, capped by a Ryan Meehan and Josh Riley block, to go up 20-15. The Beach cruised from there, as a Mike Klipsch kill gave the 49ers the 25-18 victory.
LBSU (2-2, 1-0 MPSF) carried its momentum into the decisive fifth set, taking an 8-2 advantage on a Kyle Friend kill. The Waves were able to come within one at 13-12, but a Pepperdine service error followed by an Antwain Aguillard and Klipsch block gave the 49ers the 15-12 win.
Baughman led the LBSU attack with a match-high 21 kills. The opposite hitter also had five digs, four aces and a .356 hitting percentage.
Riley added a season-best 17 kills on .500 hitting, while classmate Friend chipped in 13 kills. Aguillard registered a career-high tying 11 blocks and senior Kirk Francis had 14 digs to anchor the defense. Klipsch finished with 53 assists and eight blocks.
LBSU hit .355 for the match and held a 17.0-to-6.5 advantage in team blocks.
Pepperdine (2-1, 0-1 MPSF) posted a .241 hitting percentage and was led by Maurice Torres, who finished with 16 kills.
The ‘Niners continue MPSF action on Friday when they head to top-ranked USC for a 7 p.m. showdown.
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