LA JOLLA, Calif. - For the second straight night, Johl Awerkamp posted a match-high in kills, but it wasn't enough as the UC San Diego men's volleyball team was defeated in four sets by No. 9 Long Beach State Saturday at RIMAC Arena.

Scores were 25-21, 17-25, 25-17 and 25-22. The loss lowered UCSD's season record to 3-13 and its Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) mark to 1-10. Long Beach State is now 8-7 overall and 4-6 in league play.

UCSD had more kills on the night (51-45), but ran into 10.5 blocks and didn't help itself by committing 16 errors from the service line. After hitting .071 in the opening frame, the Tritons recovered and finished at .262 (51-23-107), which included swinging at a .440 (15-4-25) clip in the second set.

LBSU hit .303 (45-19-99) for the night. The 49ers also struggled from the service line with 14 errors, but did drop in seven aces.

Awerkamp, playing in just his fourth match of the season, led all players with 19 kills and hit .343 (19-7-35). The opposite put forth a solid effort all the way around by adding two aces, seven digs and four blocks. He also had a match-high 11 kills against Cal State Northridge Friday night. 

UCSD outside Vaun Lennon also turned in a strong performance with 15 kills, an ace and four digs. He hit .367 (15-4-30), the best attack percentage of his career.

Long Beach had nobody with double-digit kill totals as it balanced its attack among several players. Taylor Crabb had nine kills while Jim Baughman, Colten Echave and Brad Hemmerling all registered eight. Jeff Ornee chipped in with seven kills. No 49er had more than 22 attempts. 

Crabb also had four aces and eight digs while Hemmerling and Ornee each recorded five blocks.

The match featured 27 tie scores.

UCSD plays its next six matches on the road, its longest stretch of the season away from La Jolla. The string begins at Stanford on Mar. 2 and the Tritons won't play at RIMAC Arena again until Mar. 30 against UCLA. 

- UCSDtritons.com -