Thrilling Semifinal Rallies For Long Beach State And BYU
April 25, 2013
LONG BEACH STATE MEETS BYU FOR 2013 MPSF TITLE
Semifinal #1: # 3 Seed Long Beach State 3, # 2 Seed UC Irvine 2
PROVO, Utah - The fourth time was the charm for third-seeded Long Beach State. After coming up short against UC Irvine three times during the regular season, the 49ers got the win when it mattered most, defeating the second-seeded Anteaters, 25-22, 22-25, 20-25, 25-15, 22-20, in the MPSF Tournament Semifinals Thursday at Smith Fieldhouse on the BYU campus. The 22-20 set five was the second longest fifth set in MPSF Championship Tournament history, as the Beach also fought off two separate UCI match points.
The 49ers extend their win streak to a season-long seven matches, improving to 24-7, marking their most wins in a season since 2004. Long Beach State also advances to the MPSF Finals for the first time since 2006, also seeking a first-ever MPSF Championship, taking on the host and top-seed BYU.
Taylor Crabb led LBSU with a match-high 23 kills to go along with 11 digs and seven blocks. Junior Ian Satterfield added 11 kills, while Colten Echave matched his season-best with 10 kills on .533 hitting. Taylor Gregory recorded 11 blocks as the 49ers finished with a season-high 19 total team blocks. Connor Olbright also tied his season best with 55 assists, while contributing eight digs and five blocks. LBSU hit .289 on the evening and held UCI to a .214 hitting percentage.
Semifinal #2: # 1 Seed BYU 3, # 4 Seed UCLA 2
PROVO, Utah -After going down 2-0 in the match, the No. 1 seed BYU Cougars came back and defeated No. 4 seed UCLA 3-2 (23-25, 21-25, 25-18, 26-24, 15-10) before an electric 3,382 on Thursday to advance to the MPSF Championship match this Saturday (Apr. 27) at 7 p.m. MDT. BYU meets No. 3 seed Long Beach State in the Smith Fieldhouse for Saturday's conference championship. The finals appearance will be BYU's first since the 2008 season, also seeking a first title since 2004 and fourth overall.
The Cougars had three players record double-digit kills against the Bruins, led by Josue Rivera with 19, hitting .483. Teammates Ben Patch and Taylor Sander contributed 17 and 12, respectively. Patch hit. 375 and served two aces. Gonzalo Quiroga led UCLA with 22 kills BYU hit .322 for the game compared to UCLA's .307 and recorded 22.5 team blocks to the Bruins' 11.5. Devin Young had a match-high 10 blocks. BYU and Long Beach State split in the regular season, with the road team winning each match.