Apologies for the posting lull. I got some really bad news on Tuesday, not long after the last post actually, and it kinda knocked the wind out of my sails for a while. It’s still bad, and will continue to be, but I’m doing my best to deal.
Anyhoo. Tonight I feel absolutely no shame in writing up the BYU match. They’re the #1 team in the nation, and this webcast gives me my first look this season at the LBSU 49ers. And despite the fact that four more home matches occur for BYU before they finally go out on the road, this is the only one of those four that will be webcast.
Like everyone in the MPSF (and nation, really), Long Beach State have had their ups and downs so far this season. They’re led by Taylor Crabb, one of the top outsides in the league despite being a scant 6-foot-nothin’ in height. It should be interesting to see just how he does it, on such a slight frame. It may not be the best of matchups for him — BYU are among the best in the nation at basically everything, and that includes blocking. But that just serves to make the match all the more intriguing. As noted on the broadcast, Crabb has some history with BYU’s Taylor — Taylor Sander — playing together in junior international play.
It’s BYU’s first match in 13 days, the equal-longest layoff on their schedule (they are also idle between March 9 and March 22). It’s always a trade-off with long periods of respite — will players return rested and refreshed, or will they be out of rhythm, having not seen real game action for two weeks? BYU are far too good a team for the latter scenario to sink them too far, but it is something to think about.
BYU spread their offense out impressively in the early going, scoring their first four points on kills from four different spots on the court, with four different hitters. Their fifth kill of the match came from yet another spot on the court (right-back), and a triple-block established a 6-3 advantage for the Cougars. Ben Patch played a very smart shot on the rally ending 10-7, as he played the ball purposely off the 49er blocker and out. He wasn’t trying to get it through the block — off the block and out was the whole point. Hitters don’t often have the presence of mind to do that while they’re in midair. The rally ending 11-8 was the longest of the match, with some great athletic defense from Long Beach State (and in particular their libero Andrew Sato), but it ended with an attempted freeball hitting the antenna. After BYU took the next point as well to go up 12-8, Long Beach State called time.
BYU went up five for the first time at 15-10 when another right-side hit from Long Beach State went into the antenna. Dalton Ammerman for the 49ers scored his fifth kill of the match on the rally ending 15-12 with a very smart roll shot where he hit the ball completely opposite where his body was going. He then rotated to the service line and caught Sander uncharacteristically by surprise and aced him. Their lead trimmed to 15-13, BYU took time here. With another strong serve resulting in an overpass, Ammerman made it 15-14 with kill number six of the set for him, and BYU themselves knotted the set with a hitting error on the next ball.
Just as quickly, though BYU answered with three straight, including a kill from Sander and a right-side triple block. This prompted Long Beach State’s last timeout of the set. Ammerman got his seventh kill of the set coming back from the timeout getting the ball to rebound off Ryan Boyce‘s cranium and out. The 49ers ran the set back to 19-18, leading BYU coach Chris McGown to sub out for an underperforming Devin Young. They then ran ahead after BYU badly missed a soft roll shot from the middle and then misjudged a block from the Long Beach side — it landed well in, but BYU just let it go. That led to the final timeout for the Cougars.
BYU got a mildly controversial point on the first back from timeout, as Boyce appeared to get away with a double hit, and the ball was called out and off Long Beach when it really wasn’t obvious that that was the case. After a sideout, Crabb’s first kill of the match gave the 49ers their first two-point lead at 22-20. A bad passing mistake from Fuchs made it 23-20, and Long Beach State got to set point at 24-21. Patch touched the sky to stave off the first, and a solid serve from Rivera forcing an overpass staved off the second to make it 24-23. But Crabb converted the third attempt to put Long Beach State 1-0 by nicely finding the seam in a left-side double block. It was just his second kill of the set, but both were big.
Crabb scored a couple of kills early in the second set, with a really impressive shot to go up 3-1. With three blockers facing him, Crabb angled his shot to go cross-court — without it touching any of the blockers. That is way more difficult than I’m making it sound. The seam between blockers and net necessary to do that is so ridiculously narrow. The 49ers maintained their advantage, largely thanks to Sato’s sterling service reception and Ammerman’s continual errorless swinging. Little-used front-line blocker Michael Hatch led a nice left-side double block to make it 8-7, Ammerman kept the set from coming even with his tenth kill. Finally, his first error of the match, into a triple middle block, evened the set at 9-9. A long string of sideout after sideout then ensued, including some awesome defense on both sides. The set reached the automatic timeout at 15-14 BYU.
It occurs to me that in Hawaii, they take this timeout when someone reaches 15 regardless of what takes place before. Elsewhere, this timeout occurs at 15 only if no one has taken a charged timeout before that point (notice that it did not happen in set 1). Anyone know why that is?
After a back-row attack fault putting the Cougars up two at 16-14, Long Beach State took their first charged timeout. Pretty hair trigger being just one point after the automatic timeout. Hatch came up with his second block of the match to put BYU up 17-14 before Ammerman sided the 49ers out. The rally ending 18-15 was interesting. Long Beach State started to run off their court to pursue a ball going long, but it rebounded off of something above where the camera could see, so they were able to play it much more easily. No matter — Sander made it through a triple block to give BYU their three-point lead. BYU took the next point as well to go up 19-15 at Long Beach State’s second and final timeout.
Boyce whiffed on a couple of sets coming back from the timeout, setting Rivera and then Patch well back of the net. Rivera tried to compensate with a roll shot that went wide, while Patch just swung at the block and got gobbled up. BYU called time with their advantage trimmed to two at 19-17. Boyce kind of whiffed on another set on the next ball, but the hitter bailed him out to put BYU up 20-17. BYU poured it on from there to reach set point at 24-19, and Patch finished it off with a soft roll shot to send the teams to the intermission tied at a set apiece.
BYU were called for four hits early on in the 3rd, on the rally ending 4-2 for Long Beach State. The Cougars didn’t like the call and briefly protested it, saying the first contact was a block attempt. The down official came over for a momentary conference, and the call stood. Replays showed it was correct. A ball into the net from Sander and a ball deep and long from Patch put BYU down 6-2, prompting a very early timeout from the Cougars.
Josue Rivera sided the Cougars out on the left side. On the next ball, they played some terrific, reflex-driven defense by passing the ball about a foot off the ground to keep it alive, but the 49ers took the point. Long Beach State maintained their advantage, and pushed it to five at 10-5. It got really quiet in the Smith Fieldhouse. Sander’s kill on 10-6 got a few cheers, but it was still a stunned crowd. Crabb’s back-row kill made it 12-6 in favor of Long Beach State, and Ammerman made it 13-6, prompting BYU’s second and final timeout of the set. The crowd were stunned, but really, they had cause to be.
Sander sided the Cougars out after the timeout, but the 49ers responded in kind, keeping the air coming out of the gymnasium. With the Cougars struggling mightily, they made a change at setter, with Boyce coming out in favor of Tyler Heap. It was a moderate improvement, as the Cougars managed to go sideout after sideout, but when you’re down 7 that doesn’t matter much. Sander’s hitting error from the right side made it 20-12 in favor the 49ers. The next point also went the way of Long Beach State, and it was damage done. Ammerman set a new career high in kills late in the 3rd — with at least one more set still to play. BYU rattled off a few with Patch at the service line, getting the crowd back into it somewhat. On the rally ending 24-18, Russ Lavaja landed awkwardly, turning his ankle. He got up under his own power and made his way to the bench area, but he was walking very gingerly. Long Beach State converted their first opportunity at set point, going up 2-1 with the 25-18 win in the 3rd.
Long Beach State hit .593 in the 3rd, with 18 kills. Pretty amazing. Lavaja’s injury made it so Devin Young came back into the match after being pulled for ineffectiveness earlier. Remarkably, Lavaja told the coaching staff he was good to go and started lacing up his shoes early in the set. He started doing wind sprints by the bench to test his pain tolerance, and to keep warm.
After a flurry of sideouts to start, BYU edged ahead 7-4 behind Michael Hatch’s service. Young led a left-side double block to double the Cougars up on the 49ers, which helped get the crowd back into the match and prompted Long Beach State’s first timeout. BYU took the first point back from the timeout, another block led by Young. Lavaja shouted emphatic encouragement from the bench, but Young was giving Coach McGown no reason to turn back to him. BYU maintained their four and five point advantage going forward. Heap’s sets were smart and conservative, which apparently was what was necessary to make the offense a ton more efficient. I wonder what, if anything, it means going forward for BYU at the setter position.
BYU went up 17-11 with a nice shot from Sander playing the ball off the 49er block and onto the antenna. Not sure he set out to do it that way, but it worked. It forced the 49ers’ final timeout. BYU poured it on. With a fifth-set decider imminent, the 49ers switched Crabbs, Taylor’s older brother Trevor Crabb taking his place. BYU’s first ace of the match, from Hatch, made it 20-11, and then another block from Young put the Cougars up a stunning ten at 21-11. The 49ers ran it back to 22-15, and BYU called timeout. Strangely, it got the crowd pretty quiet again, despite the fact that a decider looked all but imminent. Patch finished the set off at 25-16 with two right-side kills.
The 49ers won the coin toss and got the right to receive serve to begin the 5th, but after a long rally a hitting error from Ammerman, just his fourth of the night, got the Cougars on the board first. Heap got away with a net violation on the rally ending 2-2, but the 49ers took the point anyway. Patch’s hitting error on the next ball gave the 49ers their first lead of the decider. Young got stuffed by a double block led by Taylor Gregory (what is it with the Taylors?) to give Long Beach State a two-point advantage. Patch made a cringe-inducing wide hit to put the 49ers up three at 5-2, prompting BYU’s first tiimeout.
The timeout perhaps effectively iced the server, with Ammerman netting his serve to make it 5-3. A quick set to Gregory in the middle, with a resounding SLAP! on the hit, put the 49ers back up three. Sander sided the Cougars out again with his 20th kill of the match, his first 20-kill match of 2013. Some more sideouts later, it was 8-5 Long Beach State at the side change.
Grr…the match resumed while the webcast was still at commercial. BYU closed to 9-7 on Patch’s 17th kill, a new career high. The 49ers sided out on the next ball to stay ahead, 10-7. Sander’s hitting error made it 11-7 Long Beach State, though I swear I heard it hit a hand. Evidently not. BYU took their last timeout trailing 4. They made a risky choice on the ball coming back from timeout to let a serve go, but it indeed went long. It appeared that Patch may have had a pancake save on the ball ending 12-8, but it was called down by the flagger. No argument. The 49ers took a joust to go ahead 13-8, and the Cougars ran it back to 13-10. The rally ending 13-10 showed some great defense from the setter Heap, coming up with back-to-back digs. Long Beach State took their timeout at 13-10.
Taylor Crabb brought the 49ers to match point with his 19th kill of the night, and rotated to the service line. Ammerman ended it from the left side on the first attempt, to give him a team-high 21 kills.
#7 Long Beach State d. #1 BYU (25-23, 19-25, 25-18, 16-25, 15-10)
Fun match. Weird match. Mercurial match. The teams traded runs looking like they were WAY the better of the other side. That happens more than you might think, and it really does suggest that the two sides are pretty evenly matched. Which, in turn, suggests widespread parity in the MPSF and the nation.
Ammerman ended at 21/4/37, for .459, a career night for a man that came into the match hitting only a little over .200 on the year. Crabb was 19/6/40 for .325, and that constitutes an off-night for him. For BYU, Sander tied Ammerman’s match high of 21 kills, but was notably less efficient at 21/8/46, for .283. BYU need better than that from their returning All-American against competition of this caliber.
The hitting totals from the middles for BYU really stand out, in particular how few swings they had. Lavaja had just 10 before he left the match, Hatch just 6 all night, and Young 8. None of them played the entire match, but those are still really low totals even for “just” 4 sets. The Cougars got good production from their pin hitters, but one has to think it could have been better were the defense made to commit to the middles a bit more.
And what’s the take-away from this one? BYU looked absolutely scintillating at the beginning of set 1, and all throughout set 4. They had entirely different lineups on the court at those two points in the match. Sander and Patch may have been the only common bodies. Does Boyce get the nod tomorrow, or does Heap? Whoever does ought to have a short leash — there’s a reason this was Boyce’s job up until now.
Feather in the cap for the 49ers, who now get an extended stretch of home cookin’ — 12 of their next 13 matches are at home. BYU host CSU Northridge tomorrow. That match, regrettably, will not be webcast. I’d be very interested to see it. I’ll sure follow along with it.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
