Pepperdine University
Long Beach State
Men's Volleyball Beaten by Long Beach State
1/24/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
Pepperdine-LBSU Box Score 
MALIBU, Calif. - The #7 Pepperdine men's volleyball team lost in three games (30-24, 31-29, 30-24) to #8 Long Beach State in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play on Saturday in Firestone Fieldhouse.
The Waves dropped to 1-4 overall and 1-3 in the MPSF, while the 49ers improved to 3-4, 2-2.
Junior outside hitter Cory Riecks (Auburn, Calif./Placer HS) made his first start of the season and had a strong night. He had a team-high 16 kills while hitting .519 (16-2-27) along with five digs.
Freshman opposite Maurice Torres (Riverside, Calif./Orange Lutheran HS) had 12 kills, junior setter Kasey Crider (Granite Bay, Calif./Granite Bay HS) had 35 assists and senior libero Sean Grubbs (Newport Beach, Calif./Irvine Valley CC) added a match-high nine digs.
Long Beach State's Dean Bittner proved to be unstoppable, as he had a match-high 20 kills on an errorless 24 swings for an .833 percentage. As a team, the 49ers had a .407-.169 hitting edge for the night.
Six blocks helped pace the 49ers to a first-game win. Antwain Aguillard was in on three of the first four blocks as Long Beach State jumped out to an 11-4 lead. Torres had five kills during the game as the Waves battled back, and after consecutive blocks by senior middle blocker Rodnei Santos (Sao Paulo, Brazil/BYU) and Crider, they pulled back within one point at 17-16. But the 49ers scored the next two points and the Waves wouldn't get any closer than two points.
Riecks had three early kills to help Pepperdine get out to an 11-5 lead in the second game. The 49ers would close the gap however, tying it at 20-20. The teams traded the lead a couple of times, though Pepperdine was able to pull back ahead by three at 27-24 after a block by junior middle blocker Tyler Jaynes (Granite Bay, Calif./Granite Bay HS) and senior outside hitter J.D. Schleppenbach (Ventura, Calif./Ventura HS). The Waves had a couple of game points at 29-27, but the 49ers reeled off four straight points to take a 2-0 lead.
Long Beach State broke out to a 4-1 lead in the third game and led by as many as seven points. The 49ers hit .567 in the third game to Pepperdine's .360.
Pepperdine continues MPSF play at home next Friday (Jan. 29) against top-ranked USC at 7 p.m.
