In what promised to be a close matchup between No. 7 Long Beach State (3-2, 2-0 MPSF) and No. 8 UCLA (2-4, 1-2), the 49ers defeated the Bruins in a marathon, five-set match (24-30, 30-24, 28-30, 30-22, 15-7).
The Bruins fell apart late, registering a .000 clip in the deciding fifth set with six kills and six errors.
Freshman converted-libero Jamey Ker led the defensive charge once again with 14 kills and only two passing errors.
Also prevalent for the Bruins’ defense was the play of junior outside hitter Garrett Muagututia. The Oceanside native registered 14 digs and a block assist, keeping up his praiseworthy defense from last Friday’s match against UC Santa Barbara.
The Bruins as a whole, however, were unable to silence the 49ers’ main weapons. Junior outside hitter Tommy Pestolesi and junior opposite Dean Bittner led the charge with 25 and 22 kills, respectively.
Aside from Muagututia’s 21 kills, no other Bruin had double-digit kills.
The Bruins were also sorely lacking in hitting efficiency, recording only a .157 clip to the 49ers’ .252.
Coach Al Scates attributed the weak hitting due to the Bruin opposites’ inability to put away balls.
“(Long Beach State) loaded up their blocks on the two hitters,” Scates said. “We weren’t able to get everybody involved and became a little predictable.”
Scates also commented that the Bruins were playing without a number of important hitters. Sophomore quick hitter Weston Dunlap, who started much of last season, has been out since the first match of the season.
Freshman quick hitter Nick Vogel, who has been playing with a bad thumb, was not able to finish the match ““ Scates pulled him out after the first point of the fifth set.
In the first set, the Bruins, led by Muagututia’s six kills, came out strong to out-kill the 49ers 19-11.
The second set was almost the exact opposite of the first, with Long Beach State taking a commanding lead early before winning the set 30-24.
The third set remained close throughout, before UCLA took it 30-28.
The Bruins struggled once again in the fourth set and were unable to piece together a rally, falling 22-30.
Fatigue took over in the fifth set as UCLA gave up four straight points before falling 15-7.
Most the Bruins’ offensive inefficiency came late in the match, recording only 15 kills with 14 errors in the last two sets.