April 15, 1997

USC Ends Season With 3-0 Loss to Long Beach State

LOS ANGELES -- The No. 13 USC men's volleyball team saw its season come to a close with a 15-7, 15-11, 15-6 loss to No. 8 Long Beach State on Tuesday night at the North Gym in front of 325. The Trojans still had hopes of qualifying for the MPSF Championships, but coupled with UC Santa Barbara's win over Cal State Northridge, Pacific will receive the eighth and final seed for the upcoming tournament.

Long Beach State improved to 19-9 overall and 12-7 in the MPSF. The 49ers will host a first-round MPSF tournament game this weekend. The Trojans end at 12-12, 9-10.

Senior opposite hitter Geoff Cryst led Long Beach with 21 kills, while junior middle blocker Gaby Amar had 17 kills, a .682 hitting percentage and 6 blocks. Freshman setter Chris Seiffert (the brother of USC senior middle blocker Eric Seiffert) had 47 assists, 5 kills, 5 blocks and 3 service aces.

In his final game, senior swing hitter Chris Guigliano led the Trojans with 18 kills and 6 digs. Freshman setter Donald Suxho had 40 assists and 5 digs.

The 49ers outhit the Trojans, .371 to .191, had a 10-7 blocking advantage and had 9 service aces to USC's 3.