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LONG BEACH, Calif. – Emily Hartong had career highs of 33 kills and 15 digs and the No. 9 University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team topped Long Beach State in four hard-fought sets, 24-26, 34-32, 26-24, 25-22, on Friday night at the Walter Pyramid. UH remained perfect in the Big West Conference at 11-0 and improved to 18-2 overall. The 49ers dropped to 11-10 overall and 6-4 in conference.

Hartong's 33 kills came off 79 attacks with only seven errors for an impressive .329 hitting percentage. Ashley Kastl had a career-high 19 digs to go along with 13 kills for her third straight double-double, and Kalei Adolpho added a career-best 10 kills.

Alex Reid led the 49ers with 20 kills, and Janisa Johnson and Libby Fontanilla both had a match-high 24 digs.

After Long Beach State won an intense first set, Hawai'i evened the match with a thrilling 34-32 win in set two. UH staved off two set points before finally cashing in on their sixth one to even the match. After a thunderous Chisom Okpala kill gave Beach a 21-20 lead, Hartong buried two kills of her own to even the score at 23-23. Hartong and Kastl posted a pair of kills on Beach's two set points, then, along with a Tai Manu-Olevao kill and a solo block by Mita Uiato, keyed the Hawai'i win. Manu-Olevao had six kills and Uiato posted a match-high 61 assists.

The two teams returned from the intermission for a thrilling third set. Neither team could gain an advantage as they traded points deep into the set. A pair of late Hartong kills gave UH a 23-20 lead, but Long Beach responded to even the score at 23-23. The 'Bows staved off a set point on a Tiera Wallace attack error, then won after a pair of kills by Hartong and Jade Vorster (13 kills, 6 blocks).

Hawai'i concludes its road trip on Saturday against UC Irvine. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m. PT (4:00 p.m. HT)