LONG BEACH, Calif. – In another close battle in the series, the fourth-ranked University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team dropped a tight decision to second-ranked Long Beach State in four sets Friday in the first of two Big West Conference matches at the Walter Pyramid. Set scores were 22-25, 25-23, 26-24, 27-25.
The match between the conference's top two teams over the past four seasons featured 52 ties and 16 lead changes and was decided by three total points. The Beach won their eighth straight over the Rainbow Warriors at the Pyramid and took over sole possession of first place in the Big West standings.
UH outside hitter
Chaz Galloway had a team-high 13 kills while middle blocker
Guilherme Voss had nine kills and three blocks. Outside hitter
Spyros Chakas had nine kills and nine digs and setter
Jakob Thelle posted his second career double-double with 35 assists and 11 digs.
Libero
Brett Sheward had a career-high 15 digs to lead the Warriors (18-4, 3-2 BWC) defensive attack while
Cole Hogland had four blocks along with eight kills. UH hit .248 as a team with a season-low one ace and eight blocks.
Alex Nikolov had a match-high 22 kills to lead the Beach (15-3, 4-1) while Spencer Olivier added 20 kills and eight digs. As a team, LBSU hit .301 and tallied seven aces and nine blocks.
As an example of how close the match was, the score was tied at 21 in each of the four sets. UH pulled out the opening set after closing on a 6-2 run with Chakas putting away set point.
The Warriors led 14-10 in Set 2 before the Beach rallied back and tied it at 19. LBSU surged ahead 21-20 after a bad UH pass resulted in a point. Hawai'i took a 23-22 lead after a kill by Galloway but the Beach responded with three straight to close out the game, including an ace by Nikolov on set point.
In Set 3, UH scored three straight for a 17-14 lead. The as they did in the first two sets, the Beach rallied back to tie it at 18 and took a 22-21 lead after back-to-back aces by Nathan Harlan. Another 5-1 run by the Beach gave them two set points at 24-22 but UH erased both on Galloway kills. An
Alaka'i Todd service error gave the Beach their third chance for the set and Galloway hit into a double block to end it.
The Beach maintained the lead through the first half of Set 4 before a 6-1 run gave the Warriors a 19-16 lead. The Beach quickly responded with a 5-1 run to retake the lead at 21-20. The teams traded points until a LBSU error gave Hawai'i set point at 24-23. But the Beach scored the next two points for a serve for the match but it went long. After a Nikolov kill, Olivier put away match point.
The teams play again on Saturday in a nationally televised match on ESPNU at 7:30 p.m. PT
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