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LONG BEACH, Calif. – If three five-setters in as many days last week wasn't enough, the University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team (1-5, 0-3 MPSF) went the distance again on Friday in the first of two Mountain Pacific Sports Federation matches against No. 9 Long Beach State at the Walter Pyramid. The Warriors dropped the first two sets, but battled back to even the match at two sets apiece before falling in a thrilling fifth and deciding set, 25-17, 25-23, 22-25, 27-29, 16-14.
 
Hawai`i got strong performances from JP Marks who had team-highs with 15 kills and 12 digs while Sinisa Zarkovic tallied 14 kills and 11 digs. Davis Holt and Nick West notched double-digits in kills with 13 and 10 respectively. West also was in on team-best six blocks while Joby Ramos dished out 49 assists to pace the Warriors As a team, UH hit just .169 while the 49ers hit .212 in the five-set match.
 
LBSU was led by Taylor Crabb who had a game-high 22 kills with Taylor Gregory in on eight blocks. The 49ers improved to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in MPSF action.
 
After trailing early in the first set, UH fought back to tie it at 6-6 before LBSU went on a 5-0 run to take an 11-7 lead. Long Beach State kept their lead and later pulled away on an 8-to-1 run to increase their lead to 20-11 which the Warriors could not recover from as the 49ers won 25-27 

In the second set, the Warriors jumped out to an early 11-2 lead, which was fueled by a 10-to-0 run highlighted by five Zarkovic kills. But as the set rolled on, the Beach scratched its way back to eventually catch UH and tie the set at 23-23 before a UH hitting error and a LBSU ace earned the home team the second set, 25-23.

The third set was evenly matched with 12 ties and four lead changes. Then with the set tied at 22-22, UH's Davis Holt came through with a clutch kill and an LBSU attack error gave the Warriors set-point. Nick West then buried one of his 10 kills to capture the set, 25-22.

In the fourth, it was LBSU who posted an early lead and UH who eventually roared back to close the gap on a late 7-to-2 run that tied the game at 22-22. The 49ers then got a pair of kills to reach match-point, 24-22. But UH erased two match points after Crabb hit three straight errant balls giving UH a shot at set-point 25-24. The two teams see-sawed back and forth, tying the game at 25-25, 26-26, and 27-27 before a setting error by LBSU gave UH a final set-point and Ramos came through with an ace that lifted UH a 29-27 victory to force a fifth set.
 
Down 13-10 in the fifth set, Zarkovic's tool off the block pulled UH to within two. On the next two plays, the 49ers were called for a net violation during a joust and Jeff Ornee hit long to knot the set at 13-13.  The Warriors stuffed LBSU's Taylor Crabb giving UH a chance at aloha ball but the Beach tied it at 14 despite a disputed non-call in which one of LBSU's kill attempts appeared to not clear the net. Crabb's 22nd kill gave Long Beach State match point and Crabb and Taylor Gregory then blocked Marks to end the heart-stopping match.
 
It was the fourth straight five-set match for the Warriors who played three straight five-set matches at last week's Outrigger Invitational, with a 1-2 record., its lone win coming over fifth-ranked UCLA. 
 
The teams square off again on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. HST) at the Walter Pyramid.