University Southern California Trojans
USC
*Long Beach St
Long Beach State Downs Trojans In Three
April 02, 2005 | Men's Volleyball
April 2, 2005
LONG BEACH, CA -- The No. 7-ranked Long Beach State men's volleyball team defeated the No. 15-ranked Trojans of USC, 3-0 in an MPSF match at The Walter Pyramid on Saturday night. Game scores were 30-22, 30-26, 30-23.
Long Beach State improved to 17-8 (11-7 MPSF), while USC fell to 6-21 (3-17 MPSF).
Yassir Sliti paced the 49ers with a match-high 16 kills, to go along with two aces, six digs, and three blocks. Duncan Budinger chipped in with 12 kills on 16 attempts for a .562 attack percentage and five blocks. Robert Tarr posted 11 kills and five blocks. Teddy Liles registered nine kills and a match-best seven blocks. Paul Lotman tallied four kills and four blocks. All-American setter, Tyler Hildebrand netted 45 assists, eight digs, and three blocks, while directing the 49er offense to a .337 hitting percentage (53-18-104). Andrew Vernon led USC with 10 kills in the losing effort.
Long Beach State used a .308 attack percentage to capture game one over the Trojans, 30-22. Sliti and Tarr both registered six kills in the stanza, while Hildebrand dished out 17 assists. The 49ers gained a 10-4 advantage to begin the game, before the Trojans cut the deficit to 12-10 after a Vernon kill. USC remained two points behind Long Beach State at 20-18 after a 49er attack error. The 49ers however responded with an 8-4 run capped off by a Liles kill for a 28-22 advantage. Two straight USC hitting errors gave LBSU the game one victory. Vernon had five kills for the Trojans.
The 49ers took a 2-0 match lead after a 30-26 game two victory. The Trojans built a 14-11 lead courtesy of a 49er attack error, forcing LBSU head coach, Alan Knipe to call a timeout. Long Beach State responded with a 6-1 run after the timeout to take a 17-15 lead after ball handling error was called on USC. Long Beach State increased its lead to 23-18 after a USC attack error, before the Trojans cut the deficit to 25-23 on a Jimmy Killian service ace. LBSU closed out USC with a 5-3 run to end the frame. The 49ers hit for a .414 clip in the set (16-4-29).
Long Beach State used a 9-3 run in the third set to win, 30-23, and claim the 3-0 match victory.
Long Beach State continues its five-match home stand when it faces Hawaii on Thursday, April 7 at 7:00 p.m. in The Walter Pyramid. The match will be nationally televised on College Sports Television (CSTV) on DirecTV channel 610.
