UCLA
Long Beach State
49ers Hand Bruins Another Three-Set Loss
February 26, 2010 | Men's Volleyball
Feb. 26, 2010
The third-ranked UCLA men's volleyball team slid further into its ditch, dropping another three-set decision at home to No. 9 Long Beach State on Saturday.
The Beach, which won its second straight conference match, prevailed 30-23, 30-26, 30-23 in 90 minutes in front of 531 fans. The 49ers raised their record to 8-6 overall, 6-4 in league play. The Bruins dropped to 9-8, 8-6. The Bruins have lost six consecutive sets at home where they are 3-5 this season.
Unforced errors, poor defense, inconsistent setting and the lack of a block characterized the Bruins' performance on this night. No UCLA player recorded more than eight kills. There were 22 service errors and just two aces by the home team. Blockers seemed to be fooled most of the night and the Bruins committed four blocking errors, a season high.
The Bruins' most efficient hitter was sophomore Thomas Amberg who recorded six kills (.455). Sophomore Kyle Caldwell hit .333 but had just one kill in three attempts. No other player hit better than .231 and four players who had at least two attempts hit .000.
On the other side of the net, senior Tommy Pestolesi led Long Beach with 15 kills (.355) and Dean Bittner added 10 (.350).
UCLA's home stand continues next week with matches in Pauley Pavilion against Lewis (Mar. 3) and UC Irvine (Mar. 5).
