Report by LBSU
Long Beach State dominated Cal Baptist hitting .429 as a team en route to 30-22-30-18, 30-24 win over the nation’s No. 1 ranked NAIA team Thursday night at the Walter Pyramid. The Beach win avenged a season-opening five-set loss to the Lancers in the UCSB Tournament in January.
Tommy Pestolesi led a balanced attack for the 49ers finishing with 12 kills, a .308 hitting percentage and a team-best five blocks. Jim Baughman added 11 kills, five digs and a career-high four aces, while Antwain Aguillard added nine kills on .727 hitting with four blocks. Kirk Francis led the defensive attack with 12 digs while Conor Eaton had seven digs and 33 assists.
The Beach got off to an impressive start winning game one easily. The 49ers led the Lancers 20-17 before going on a seven-point run to take command. Aguillard led the 49ers with six kills and a 1.000 hitting percentage. Pestolesi added three kills and three blocks, while Dean Bittner and Baughman both had three kills while both hit .400.
As a team, LBSU hit an impressive .519 in the game. Cal Baptist responded hitting .367 but had five service errors to help the 49ers win the game.
LBSU kept the pressure on the Lancers in the second game jumping out to an early 11-4 lead. The 49ers built it to 19-10 before Cal Baptist ran off four straight points to get within five. The Beach answered scoring 11 of the final 15 points to push its lead to 2-0.
Aguillard stayed perfect for the match getting two kills on two attempts. Pestolesi led the 49ers with five kills in the second game, while Baughman added three kills with two kills coming from Bittner and Ryan Meehan.
Long Beach State continued to attack at a blistering pace hitting .560 in the second game. CBU struggled hitting just .100.
LBSU couldn’t shake the Lancers in the third game. The two teams battled to a 15-15 tie forcing Long Beach State to take a timeout. The Beach responded out of the timeout scoring the next three points. The 49ers built the lead to five, 24-19, before CBU scored the next three points to get within two and force another LB SU timeout.
The Beach responded again scoring the next three points to ice the victory. Baughman had five of his kills in the final game, while hitting .625. Pestolesi and Bittner added four kills each in the final set.