Pepperdine Gets Beached by a Tidal Wave of Errors

A colorful banner posted in Firestone Fieldhouse before Pepperdine’s Mountain Pacific Sports Federation volleyball match against Long Beach State on Tuesday night certainly did not apply.

It read: “Welcome to Malibu where the Waves pound the Beach everyday.”

On this night it was very much the other way around.

Long Beach trounced the Waves, 15-11, 15-6, 16-14, and improved its winning streak to six matches.

The third-ranked 49ers (17-4, 11-3 in MPSF play) dominated throughout, even without one of their top hitters, Geoffrey Cryst, who has missed the last three matches because of a foot injury.

The 10th-ranked Waves (12-8, 7-7) made things worse for themselves by committing a series of hitting and service errors that proved costly down the stretch. Pepperdine had 32 errors compared to Long Beach’s 17.

“With them it’s all or nothing,” Long Beach Coach Ray Ratelle said. “They swing real hard, but it doesn’t always work.”

Pepperdine broke away from a 2-2 tie in the first game when setter J.J. Riley scored six consecutive points, but the 49ers responded with an 11-2 run that gave them a 13-10 lead. The Waves scored one last point, off Chris Jacobson’s serve, before Long Beach’s Ryan Mariano served for the game’s last two points.

The 49ers jumped to a 6-1 lead in the second game and Pepperdine didn’t respond. The Waves scored only five points after that while Long Beach poured it on.

“Long Beach made good plays when they had to,” Pepperdine Coach Marv Dunphy said. “I give them a lot of credit. It was a battle tonight and they won it.”

The Waves had their chances to win the third game, but couldn’t hang onto the lead.

Pepperdine was ahead, 9-3, and went on to take a 12-7 lead, but Long Beach caught up at the end when the Waves faded.

Trailing 14-12, the 49ers fought off two game points and later scored two of their own to tie the game, 14-14.

Tom Hoff, who had 30 kills for Long Beach, pounded a shot down the middle to give the 49ers a 15-14 edge.

Pepperdine prevented four Long Beach match points, but Hoff nailed a cross-court shot from the right side to win the match.

George Roumain had 28 kills and Kevin Barnett had 25 for Pepperdine.