After sitting out one of the men’s volleyball team’s first three matches the previous week to rest, Long Beach State junior Dean Bittner didn’t take long to find a rhythm Friday night.
The second-team All-American hammered home a match-high 24 kills on .500 hitting and powered the 49ers to a 30-26, 30-26, 32-30 sweep over UC San Diego at the Walter Pyramid.
“[Bittner] was pretty fresh and feeling it and we were feeding him,” head coach Alan Knipe said.
Added Bittner, “My hitting is pretty constant. I knew we were doing pretty well when I was hitting as many balls as I was and they were falling, so that’s always helpful.”
It was LBSU’s regular season home opener, as well as the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation league opener for both teams.
The 49ers (2-2, 1-0 MPSF) also received strong play from a pair of middle blockers. Junior first-team All-American Dan Alexander collected 10 kills on .625 hitting to go with four block assists and two service aces, while true freshman Jim Baughman added seven kills on a .778 clip, three block assists, three digs and a service ace.
“Our middles were going pretty good so they had to commit a lot of attention to blocking our middles and it gave Dean a lot of one-on-one opportunities,” Knipe said.
Sophomore setter Mike Klipsch distributed 49 assists and senior libero Dustin Watten made 13 digs for the ‘Niners, who entered the match ranked seventh in the Bison/American Volleyball Coaches Association Division I-II Men’s Top-15 poll and sixth in the Molten-Volleyball Magazine Men’s Top-10 media poll.
The Tritons (1-2, 0-1 MPSF) were led by sophomore outside hitter Will Ehrman’s 13 kills and six digs.
Despite the 3-0 result, LBSU and UCSD battled in each set but the 49ers outlasted the Tritons every time.
“[Putting away opponents earlier] comes over time,” Knipe said. “This group of six hasn’t played much volleyball together. You take anything you can — you take wins and critique them — but you also learn how to do those things the further the season goes along.”
Trailing the Tritons 27-26 in set three, junior Tommy Pestolesi gave the 49ers two of the next three points but UCSD did the same to maintain a one-point lead.
The Tritons committed a service error to tie the match at 30, and Bittner followed with a block to setup match point. Alexander clinched the match with a service ace that trickled off the net.
The final set featured 21 ties and eight lead changes.
LBSU, which led the all-time series 47-4 coming into the contest, limited UCSD to a .205 attack percentage to claim a set two victory.
With nine kills in the second set, Bittner was hitting a staggering .696 with 18 kills going into the final set.
The 49ers hit .441 and collected five team blocks to take the opening set, 30-26.
The teams traded points midway through en route to a 15-15 tie.
Back-to-back kills by Bittner gave LBSU a 23-21 lead heading into a UCSD timeout. Kyle Friend followed it up with a kill and service ace to extend the lead to 26-23 and burn another Tritons timeout.
Bittner, who recorded set highs with nine kills on .667 hitting in the opener, capped the scoring with a block.
The ‘Niners return to action Wednesday in an MPSF match-up against the UCLA Bruins at the Walter Pyramid. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.