Tigers Outduel No. 5 Long Beach State To Earn The Sweep
Feb. 25, 2005 Stockton, Calif. - The No. 11 Pacific men's volleyball team posted an upset of No. 5 Long Beach State in three sets on Friday, February 25, behind clutch performances from all seven starters. With the win the Tigers improved to 11-8 overall and 5-6 in the MPSF while the 49ers fell to 9-6 overall and 7-5 in conference play. Set scores for the match were: 30-21, 42-40, 30-28. With the opening set tied at 16-16, the Tigers powered to a first set win with a 13-5 run to close out the set. Sophomore Mitch Hazelett (Roanoke, Ind.) served up six straight points during the rally to break the set open. Set two was a battle from beginning to end as the Tigers persevered for the win in the longest set in Pacific men's volleyball history. Pacific took an early seven point lead at 11-4, the largest lead of the set for either team. Despite already being down one set and seven points in the second, the 49ers were able to fight their way back into the set eventually pulling even with the Tigers at 24-24. After trading points, Pacific took their first set point at 29-28, but were unable to stop the 49ers attack as Long Beach State tied the set for the third time. Both teams refused to lose as the Tigers had eight set points before finally putting away their ninth chance on a block by freshman Simon Chen-Byerley (Northfield, Ill.) and senior Mauricio Brizuela (Asuncion, Paraguay). The 49ers had chances of their own to even the match at one set a piece but were held in check themselves on four set points as well. Pacific was able to complete the upset sweep with a third set victory that witnessed 12 ties and six lead changes. Brizuela paced the Tigers by pounding down six of his 11 kills in the final set. Not to be outdone, senior Brian Zodrow (Kaneohe, Hawaii) put down six kills as well in the third set.
As a team, the Tigers outhit the 49ers .286-to-.202 for the match and outblocked Long Beach State 14.0-to-10.0. On the night, Pacific posted 18 block assists and five solo blocks. Zodrow led the Tigers with 17 kills while hitting .308 and a team-high nine digs. Brizuela had 12 kills on 21 attempts with only four errors while serving up three critical aces for the Tigers. Hazelett tallied 44 assists on the night while putting up five blocks including one solo effort. For the 49ers, Robert Tarr paced all attackers with a match-high 23 kills on 51 swings while Nathan Hagstrom had two service aces and a match-high 10 digs. The Tigers will look to continue their current two match winning streak on Wednesday, March 2, as they hit the road for a match at No. 8 Cal State Northridge. Match time is scheduled for 7:00 pm. |
 
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