A career-high 14 kills from middle blocker Scott Slaughter wasn’t enough as No. 10 UC Santa Barbara was swept in three sets by No. 7 Long Beach State Saturday in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) men’s volleyball action. Scores went 30-28, 30-20, and 36-34 at the Thunderdome.
After avenging a 3-0 loss to UCSB back in early January, Long Beach State improved to 5-5 overall, 4-3 in the MPSF. UCSB fell to 3-7 and 1-6 with its third consecutive loss.
Outside hitter Jeff Menzel, who had led UCSB in kills in the team’s previous nine matches, had an off night. Playing in two sets, Menzel led the squad with 22 attack attempts, but hit -.136 with five kills and eight errors.
Slaughter’s solid outing also included a .632 hitting percentage, an assist, an ace, two digs, and six blocks. He established a second career-high with 18.5 points. Jake Rosener had 10 kills and seven digs, while Blaine Nielsen and Trey Valbuena each tallied seven kills.
The Gauchos hit under .200 in the first two sets, but held a .391 to .282 advantage in the third frame. Overall, UCSB swung at a .236 clip.
“Our goal was just to compete play to play, regardless of the score, and we did that,” said UCSB head coach Rick McLaughlin of his team’s performance.
Dean Bittner led Long Beach in kills with a match-high 15. Tommy Pestolesi had 11 kills and Josh Riley added ten. Libero Dustin Watten recorded 13 digs and Dan Alexander had six blocks.
Setter Mike Klipsch totaled 39 assists as he led the 49ers to a .326 attack percentage for the match.
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