The Beach men’s volleyball team had already swept UC Irvine at the Elephant Bar Restaurant Collegiate Invitational in Santa Barbara two weeks ago.
That momentum wouldn’t carry over into the rematch Friday night.
The No. 7 49ers (3-3, 2-1 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) fell to No. 5 UC Irvine, 34-32, 32-30, 28-30, 30-27, at the Walter Pyramid, despite a career performance from Josh Riley. The sophomore outside hitter tied his career-high with 14 kills and led LBSU with a .522 hitting percentage.
“Josh came in and gave us some fresh legs tonight,” 49er head coach Alan Knipe said.
Junior opposite Dean Bittner led the 49ers with 25 kills on .327 hitting to go along with 10 digs. Senior libero Dustin Watten had 15 digs to lead the team, while junior outside hitter Tommy Pestolesi chipped in with 14.
Knipe said a critical factor that allowed UCI to pull through was the Anteaters’ blocking, coupled with some tactical mistakes on his team’s part.
“Some of our hits were low and they capitalized real well on that,” he said. “We’ve got to learn how to take smarter swings next time.”
The Anteaters (6-2, 3-1 MPSF) jumped out to a 14-9 run to start the fourth set thanks to numerous attack and service errors by the 49ers. LBSU narrowed the gap at 29-27 on kills from Jim Baughman and Dan Alexander, but a kill by UCI outside hitter Jordan DeFault sealed the match for the Anteaters.
DeFault finished with 16 kills, right behind opposite Jon Steller, who led the Anteaters with 19 kills on .361 hitting.
“We had every opportunity to win tonight,” Knipe said. “We just didn’t play real clean, didn’t convert and missed too many serves.”
The 49ers committed 21 service errors, several of which came in crucial moments of the first two tight sets. The Anteaters seized momentum when DeFault punched away an ace that took a friendly skip off the net and on to the 49ers’ side to help UCI capture the second set.
LBSU’s attack looked at its best in the third set when the team hit at a .419 clip. Riley had six kills and Bittner had five to pace the ‘Niners to its lone set victory.
The 49ers will head on the road for a four-game trip that starts Friday night in Palo Alto against No. 3 Stanford. LBSU will be away from the Pyramid until Feb. 12 when the team is scheduled to play No. 11 Hawaii.
The trip also includes stops at Pacific, No. 2 Cal State Northridge and No. 10 UC Santa Barbara.
“Stanford’s got a nice team,” Knipe said. “We’ve got to get our legs fresh, go out there and have a nice road trip.”