Box Score

LONG BEACH, Calif. – The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team took out the brooms in a straight-set victory over No. 5 Long Beach State Saturday in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match at the Walter Pyramid. Scores were 25-23, 27-25, and 25-17.

 

The Warriors (12-9, 10-6 MPSF) also swept the two-match series with the Beach and extended their win streak to six. The win, coupled with BYU's straight set win over Cal State Northridge, kept them tied with the Cougars for third place in the MPSF standings.

 

All-American opposite Jonas Umlauft had nine of his match-high 22 kills in the opening set. Umlauft, who also had two of the team's three service aces, hit .350. Outside hitter Joshua Walker added 14 kills on .345 hitting. As a team, UH hit .310 compared to .250 for the 49ers.

 

Jim Baughmann led the Beach (10-10, 8-7) with 14 kills. He had six kills with no errors in the first set but finished the final two sets with eight kills and seven errors. Punahou School graduate Taylor Crabb added 11 kills and seven digs.

 

In a back-and-forth Set 1, the 49ers grabbed a slight edge at 20-18 after Umlauft hit the antenna. But the Warriors and Umlauft answered back as the sophomore took over converting the last three kills of the set for a 25-23 victory.

 

The Warriors took a 16-13 lead in Set 2 with three straight points off a kill by Umlauft; block by Shane Welch and Nejc Zemljak; and ace by Umlauft. The 49ers tied it at 19 following consecutive kills by Baughman and Brad Hemmerling. But UH responded with a kill by Walker and LBSU hitting error and another 49er error gave the Warriors set point at 24-21. The Beach fended off four set points until Crabb hit wide giving UH the two sets to none advantage.

 

UH stormed out to an 8-2 lead in Set 3 and did not commit its first error until the score was 16-9.

 

The Warriors continue their four-match road trip with a two-match series against Brigham Young, Thursday, March 24 and Friday, March 25. Both matches begin at 7:00 p.m. MT (3:00 p.m. HT) at Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah.