Box Score

LONG BEACH, Calif. - The 13th ranked University of Hawai`i men's volleyball team kept its playoff hopes alive with a thrilling five-set victory over No. 9 Long Beach State 30-27, 30-20, 22-30, 27-30, 19-17 tonight in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match at The Pyramid.

It is the seventh-straight victory for the Warriors who improve to 10-13 overall and 8-11 in the MPSF while Long Beach State falls to 11-14 and 6-13.

UH jumped out to an 11-6 lead in the first set. But LBSU would pull to within two at 18-16 before the Warriors would go on a 3-0 run and eventually hold on to win, 30-27.

In the second, Hawai`i would hold a 12-7 advantage but then outscored the Beach 7-3 to mount a 19-10 lead and roll to a 30-20 win.

The 49ers came out strong in the third. LBSU owned a 12-10 lead then would go on a 6-3 run en route to a 30-22 victory.

The Beach tied up the match with a 30-27 win in set four. UH broke a 14 all tie and went up by as many as six at 22-16 before the 49ers scratched back into it by reeling off nine straight points and held on at the end.

In the fifth set, UH took a 9-6 lead just past the halfway point. The 49ers came back again tying it at 13. UH stavved off four match points and then outlasted LBSU, 19-17.

Lauri Hakala led all attackers with 29 kills and hit .309. Matt Vanzant added 10, while Brian Beckwith dished out 57 assists and Dio Dante posted a career-high 15 block assists.

LBSU was led by the hitting duo of Paul Lotman and Dean Bittner who slammed 19 and 17 kills, respectively. Connor Eaton handed out 56 assists while Dan Alexander and Lotman contributed 12 and 11 block, respectively.

The two teams complete the two-match series Saturday at 7:00 p.m. PST (4:00 HST).

-UH-