Box Score  |  VIDEO: Senior Night Ceremony

HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team was eliminated from postseason play after a 27-25, 26-24, 20-25, 25-22 loss to No. 9 Long Beach State in the Warriors' final home match of the season Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center.
 
The loss eliminated the Warriors (7-18, 4-16 MPSF) from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament. UH concludes the regular season with a pair of matches at UC Santa Barbara next week.
 
Following the match, seniors Steven Hunt, Jarrod Lofy, Nick Castello and Troy Crutchfield were honored during the traditional post-match ceremony. Each of the seniors' parents were in attendance, including Crutchfield whose father is an assistant on the Long Beach State staff, and they were presented with their senior plaque.
 
In his final home match, Hunt finished with 18 kills, nine digs, and three blocks. Castello had a team-high 18 digs while Lofy tallied seven kills and five blocks. Sophomore opposite Harrison Carroll led the way with a career-high 19 kills.
 
The 49ers (13-12, 8-10) were led by Punahou School graduate Taylor Crabb's match-high 20 kills on .421 hitting. Jeff Ornee added 13 kills and seven blocks while Brad Hemmerling posted 11 kills, eight digs, and six blocks.
 
At times, the match was a block-fest as the 49ers tallied 18 compared to UH's 8. The Beach had seven of those blocks in the first set.
 
UH led for the better part of Set 1 and held a comfortable 23-20 lead. The 49ers closed to within 23-22 but Carroll gave UH set point with a kill. The Beach then came up with huge blocks on back-to-back points to tie it at 24 and won a long rally capped by a kill by Hemmerling for set point. After a kill by Hunt, the Beach stuffed Lofy and JP Marks on consecutive plays for the come-from-behind victory. 
 
In Set 2, the 49ers surged ahead 13-7 during a 7-1 run. The Warriors clawed their way back and tied it at 20 and took a 21-20 lead after consecutive kills by Carroll.  The Beach retook the lead at 23-22 but the Warriors answered with a kill by Hunt and service ace by Sam Biscaro that trickled over the net. Hunt was blocked on UH's set point and Taylor Crabb's kills on back-to-back plays gave LBSU the victory.
 
The teams traded points for the first half of Set 3 until the Warriors reeled off five straight points, sparked by three kills by Hunt, for a 19-14 lead. Hawai'i sided-out the rest of the way en route to a 25-20 victory.
 
The fourth set was much like the third as UH was the first team to reach 15 at 15-14. But a 5-1 run by the Beach gave them a 20-17 lead.  The Warriors pulled to within one at 22-21 and 23-22 but the 49ers closed out the match by stuffing Scott Hartley and Hunt hit wide.
 
The Warriors close out the regular season with a two-match MPSF series at UC Santa Barbara, April 6-7.