49er Men Get Ready for Waves

The loss of three key seniors from the men’s volleyball team that reached the NCAA title match last season had Long Beach State searching for an identity.

“There was a time early in the year where we put some wins together but also lost some matches,” Coach Alan Knipe said. “It was a little up and down. But we’ve cut down on our errors and are playing with more confidence.”

After their erratic start, the 49ers found their game and kept it up in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament, scoring a 30-20, 30-24, 30-25 semifinal victory Thursday over UC Santa Barbara. The victory set up a title match against host and No. 1-seeded Pepperdine tonight at Firestone Fieldhouse with the automatic bid to next week’s four-team NCAA championships at stake.

Led by star junior setter Tyler Hildebrand, Long Beach (22-9) has won 13 of its last 15 matches. Pepperdine has a league-best 22-2 record. The teams split their two previous meetings, each winning at home.

“We beat them in three, and they beat us in five,” Hildebrand said. “We beat them a couple of weeks ago, but they’re still 22-2 for a reason. They’ve been the best team all season, and they’re going to be ready for us.”

Pepperdine shook off some early struggles Thursday and subdued Cal State Northridge in four games, 32-30, 30-27, 28-30, 30-19. Outside hitter Sean Rooney, who had a match-high 23 kills, has been the Waves’ top player for two seasons and probably will be selected as national player of the year.

A key side issue in tonight’s match: The losing team figures to be vying with UCLA for the one at-large berth in the NCAA championships.

-- Eric Stephens