It was a short night for the top two teams in the country with No. 1 Long Beach and No. 2 Hawaii making quick work of their foes in sweeps. The Rainbow Warriors dominated the offensive side of the ball in a win over No. 12 Concordia Irvine, while the 49ers used a steady effort across the board in a 3-0 victory over No. 16 Cal State Northridge to move to 16-0, its best start in program history.
#2 Hawaii def. #12 Concordia Irvine 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-16)
- Hawaii moves to 11-2; Concordia falls to 8-8
- Honolulu, Hawaii
- Box Score
- Concordia Recap / Hawaii Recap
Key Stats: Hawaii hit at a .446 clip for the match, including .500-plus efforts in the final two sets, while nearly doubling up on Concordia in kills (50-27) in the victory. The Rainbow Warriors also bested the Eagles 3-1 in aces, while both teams notched five blocks as Hawaii swept the weekend series. Concordia hit .145 for the match, posting its best effort in Set 1 at .280 and struggling to reach .100 in the final two stanzas.
Stat Leaders: The trio of sophomore opposite Rado Parapunov, sophomore outside Austin Matautia and junior outside Stijn van Tilburg tallied double-digit kill totals with 12, 12 and 10 respectively. Matautia also added three aces and two blocks, while van Tilburg notched two stuffs, while hitting .389. Junior middle Dalton Solbrig added six kills on a .667 hitting effort and redshirt sophomore middle Patrick Gasman turned in five kills in six swings for an .833 effort to go with a team-best three stuffs.
Senior middle Taylor Falduti managed nine kills to lead the Eagles, while redshirt sophomore outside Raymond Barsemian and redshirt sophomore outside Darcy Taig added seven and six respectively. Falduti hit at a .500 clip (9-2-14) and was one of four Concordia players to post two blocks alongside Barsemian, Taig and junior middle Hunter Howell. Redshirt junior setter Chandler Gibb served up the team’s lone ace, while also notching 23 assists and a team-best seven digs.
It Was Over When: Hawaii charged out to a 13-7 lead in Set 3 as five different players notched kills, including three by Parapunov and two each by Joe Worsley and van Tilburg. Concordia called timeout and got three-straight points on a block and two Rainbow Warrior miscues to make it 13-10, but couldn’t slow the Hawaii offense, which churned out 12 of the final 18 points for the win. Parapunov downed three more kills, Matautia added two kills and an ace and four others got in on the offensive action to close out the match. Solbrig downed the final point at 25-16 on Hawaii’s second match-point try.
#1 Long Beach State def. #16 Cal State Northridge 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-17)
- Long Beach State moves to 16-0, 2-0 Big West; CSUN falls to 8-7, 0-2 Big West
- Long Beach, California
- Box Score
- Long Beach Recap / CSUN Recap
Key Stats: Long Beach State served up six aces and used six blocks to hold the Matadors to a .152 hitting effort in an hour and 16 minute sweep Sunday night. The win moved the 49ers to 16-0, matching the 1992 team for the best start in program history. Offensively, LBSU managed a .316 hitting effort and outdid Cal State Northridge 38-28 in kills. The 49ers hit .250 or better in all three sets, including a .375 effort in the opening stanza. The Matadors managed two aces and four blocks.
Stat Leaders: Junior outside TJ DeFalco paced the 49ers with 15 kills, seven digs and two blocks, while hitting at a team-best .458 clip (15-4-24). Junior opposite Kyle Ensing added nine kills and redshirt junior middle Nick Amado chipped in five putaways. Seven LBSU players notched a kill in the match. Freshman middle Simon Anderson led the team with three blocks, while senior outside Bjarne Huus and Ensing served up two aces apiece.
Senior opposite Arvis Greene downed nine kills for the Matadors, while hitting .250 and serving up one of the team’s two aces. Junior outside Dimitar Kalchev added seven kills and a team-high six digs, while freshman outside Maciej Ptaszynski and junior middle Eric Chance added five and four kills respectively. Chance served up and ace and was one of three CSUN players with two blocks to his credit. Ptaszynski and senior middle Josiah Byers also notched two stuffs.
It Was Over When: CSUN boasted a 5-4 lead early in Set 3 only to see LBSU scored four straight, including a Huus ace and kills by DeFalco and Josh Tuaniga to pull away 8-5 and take a lead it would not relinquish. The Matadors were within one at 8-7, but soon trailed by seven at 16-9 after four DeFalco putaways and four of their own errors. The teams traded points over the next 12 served leading to a 23-16 score. A stuff by Amado and DeFalco put Long Beach State on the hill. A Chance putaway kept the match going momentarily, but a service error was the final blow in the sweep.
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