After a decisive victory for LBSU in the first set, the Bruins managed to tighten it up in the second, leading by three twice in the early part of the set.  But the two teams tied it up at 10-10 and continued to trade narrow leads until Long Beach called a time out tied at 22-22.  They came back from the sideline with a new energy, finishing the set 30-25.

After the break, the Bruins knew they were playing for the match.  The two teams were neck and neck the entire set, LBSU’s widest lead coming at 16-12, which UCLA rapidly closed and beat to 16-17.  In the last few points of the set, the teams were tied at every point from 25 to 29.  UCLA had their only set point of the night at 28-29, but Long Beach tied it and ran with it, winning the set 31-29 and the match in three.

Besides the win, it was a good night for Beach, with four players finishing the night with double-digit kills.  Dean Bittner lead the team with 17 kills while hitting .333 (17-6-33) with nine blocks.  Junior Tommy Pestolesi added 11 kills and a career-high .643 (11-2-14) hitting percentage.  Pestolesi’s effort was his second career night against the Bruins this season. Pestolesi had a career-high 25 kills the last time the two teams met.

Josh Riley continued his strong play with 11 kills, while Mike Klipsch had 42 assists and Dustin Watten added 10 digs. The 10-dig effort by Watten was the 31st double-digit dig match of his career, the second most in 49er history.

No. 6 Long Beach State (8-5, 7-3) travels to face No. 2 UC Irvine Friday night.