VOLLEYBALL (M)

2/6/10 - Royals Overpowered by Tritons

By Tim Gooszen

Fullerton, CA- On Saturday night, for their 2010 home opener, Hope International welcomed NCAA UC San Diego.  Unfortunately, the visiting Tritons overpowered the Royals and beat them 3-0 (30-24, 30-25, 30-28).  Newcomers Brett Massetti and Kaimi Guerreiro, making their first appearance in a Royals uniform at home, hammered out 11 kills each.

The first set opened up to a 9-9 tie.   Apparently, the Tritons (4-7) were just getting warmed up as a 4-0 run would put them out in front… for the remainder of the set.  No Royal had more than 3 kills in the first set as they hit .111 as a team.  The Tritons on the other hand hit .353 during their first set dominance.

With the second set tied at 2-2, the Tritons used a 5-0 run to take control of the set.  When all the dust settled at the end of the set, that 5-0 run basically was the difference as the Royals (5-2) never led in the set.  Guerreiro (6 kills) and Massetti (5 kills) found their groove in the second set as they each committed just one error.  Their efforts helped the Royals hit .290 in the set number two.  But the Tritons were on fire with a .432 hitting set.

As evident by the final of 30-28 for the third set, the final set was as entertaining as it could be as the Royals out hit the Tritons .317 to .314.  The set as a whole featured 11 ties, 7 lead changes, and no lead larger than three for either team.  Though Massetti had 5 kills once again, the third set belonged to Freshman Bernard Luna.  Luna had 6 kills on 11 attacks with just one error.

The biggest home match of the season comes on Wednesday for the Royals as they host #1 California Baptist.  First serve is scheduled for 7:00 pm in the Darling Pavilion.

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