USC
*Long Beach State
Long Beach State Men's Volleyball Beats USC
February 15, 2008 | Men's Volleyball
Feb. 15, 2008
Paul Lotman had 28 kills and Dean Bittner added 23 kills to lead the No. 3-ranked Long Beach State men's volleyball team to a hard-fought 30-24, 31-33, 30-22, 39-37 win over No. 9 USC in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match on Friday (Feb. 15) at USC's Galen Center.
Long Beach State improved to 10-1 overall and 8-1 in the MPSF, while the Trojans fell to 7-8 and 6-6.
Lotman hit .478 and also had 8 digs, while Bittner had 7 blocks and 6 digs, Dan Alexander had 7 blocks and Dustin Watten had 9 digs.
For USC, Juan Figueroa had 17 kills, Murphy Troy added 16 kills, 7 digs, 4 blocks and 3 aces, Austin Zahn had 9 kills (hitting .538) and 4 blocks, Hunter Current had 5 blocks and Luke Morris had 8 digs.
LBSU outhit (.346 to .254) and outdug (35 to 26) USC. Both teams had 11.5 blocks.
The first game was tied at 18-18 when the 49ers scored consecutive points and then slowly pulled away. USC held a 17-12 lead in the second game only to have LBSU go up 27-24, but the Trojans caught up at 28-28 and finished off the game on a pair of Troy kills. The score was tied midway through the third game when LBSU went on a 4-0 run to open up a 16-12 edge and the 49ers never relinquished the lead while hitting .385. LBSU fought back from a 28-25 deficit in the final game by scoring 4 in a row, then eventually closed out the match on a Trojan blocking error followed by a Lotman kill (USC hit .405 I that game to the 49ers' .390).
USC now takes a break from MPSF play and travels to Massachusetts for the Hall of Fame Classic, facing host Springfield on Feb. 22, then playing either Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne or George Mason on Feb. 23.
