Match Stats
- #4 Long Beach State 49ers def. #5 Hawaii Warriors 3-0 (25-19, 25-14, 25-18)
- LBSU moves to 6-1 (3-1 MPSF); Hawaii falls to 5-2 (0-2 MPSF)
- Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, California
- Attendance: 897
- Match Stats
After the 5th-ranked Hawaii Rainbow Warriors opened their season 5-0 in non-conference play, they missed two opportunities this week to pick up statement wins against #4 Long Beach State. On Friday, LBSU won the 2nd game in 3 days over their conference foes, this time in a dominant 3-0 finish.
LBSU was most dominant in the service game, in both directions. They had 8 service aces of their own, but committed no reception errors – and therefore held Hawaii to no aces.
The service game has been a struggle for Hawaii all year long (they’ve only once gotten over 5 aces). Long Beach State, though, took advantage of not only that, but poked a hole in one of Hawaii’s biggest strengths.
The Warriors entered the game 2nd in the nation with 2.75 blocks/set (behind only Ball State’s 3.05), but weren’t able to score a single point there in Friday night’s game. LBSU, meanwhile, had 10 blocks.
Thanks in part to that meager defense by Hawaii, the 49ers had only 3 hitting errors in the game, recording a .534 percentage. Hawaii hit just .191.
The game will be a confidence-booster for victorious Long Beach State, as they were able to prove themselves in every phase of the game. Statistically, they had only 1 player, Kyle Ensing with 11, in double figure kills, but they didn’t need many kills to win the game.
Hawaii was led offensively by Stijn van Tilburg with 10 kills on .300 hitting percentage and Patrick Gasman had 9 kills on just 11 swings to hit .727. While those two were bright spots, the rest of the team hit a combined -.027 in the game.
Hawaii will play one more game, on Saturday against UC-Irvine, before returning home to Honolulu. LBSU next plays on Friday against Saint Francis and then Saturday against #1 ranked Ohio State in Columbus.
Videos
Press Releases
Courtesy LBSU Athletics:
LONG BEACH — The fourth-ranked Long Beach State men’s volleyball team turned in a stellar performance Friday night as the Beach swept No. 5 Hawaii (25-19, 25-14, 25-18) while never committing a reception error in the contest. Additionally, the Beach hit .534 and limited the Warriors to just .191 hitting in the match.
Long Beach State is now 6-1 on the year and 3-1 in MPSF action, while Hawaii falls to 5-2 overall and 0-2 in league play. The Warriors’ only two losses on the season have been to LBSU.
The Beach were on point the entire match as they committed just three attack errors (one in each set) en route to hitting .534 (34-4-58) in the contest. In addition to their hot hitting, LBSU was solid defensively as the Beach was perfect in the backrow collecting 40 receptions without a miscue for a 1.000 reception percentage. Additionally, Long Beach State posted 10.0 team blocks, while Hawaii was unable to record a block throughout the match.
The sophomore trio of Kyle Ensing, TJ DeFalco and Josh Tuaniga set the tone in the match with their top-notch level of play and intensity. Ensing led all scorers with 11 kills on 19 attempts without committing an attack error for a .579 hitting percentage. Meanwhile, DeFalco hit .438 registering seven kills on 16 attempts without an error. Completing the trifecta was Tuaniga who posted an attack percentage of .750 (3-0-4) and also did not commit an attack error in the match.
Tuaniga added 26 assists and four blocks, while DeFalco knocked down five service aces, while recording 12 receptions in the backrow. The defense was led by senior libero Andrew Sato who recorded five digs and 17 receptions without an error.
At the net, senior Amir Lugo-Rodriguez led the team once again with five block assists, while Tuaniga added four and Bjarne Huus put up three as well as a solo stop. Huus was also solid in the backrow with 11 receptions to help pace the Beach.
The first set started off with the conference foes trading points until they were deadlocked at 18. However, a 6-0 run by LBSU broke the tie as the Beach went on to win 25-19.
In the frame, Long Beach State hit .600 (13-1-20) as Ensing led the way with four kills and Tuaniga dished out nine assists.
The Beach dominated the second set, out-hitting Hawaii .400 to -.087 with a sideout percentage of 73 as they cruised to a 25-14 win. DeFalco notched a pair of service aces in the frame to bring his total to four, while Ensing knocked down four kills.
The third and final set saw Hawaii try to get back in the game as the Warriors hit .360 (13-4-25) for their best offensive performance of the night. However, the 49ers countered with a .565 attack percentage as they knocked down 14 kills on 23 attempts with just one error.
Long Beach State and Hawaii saw half a dozen ties early on, but the Beach went on a 4-0 run, highlighted by an Ensing kill, to jump out in front 10-6. With the lead, the 49ers never allowed the Warriors to come closer than two points, before the Beach closed out the set and match with a 25-18 victory.
Hawaii struggled offensively as the Warriors only had one scorer reach double-figures in Stijn van Tilburg (10 kills). Patrick Gasman led the team with a .727 attack percentage (9-1-11), while Jennings Franciskovic (19 assists) and James Anastassiades (14 assists) split setter duties.
The Beach has a week to prepare for a pair of matches in Columbus, Ohio as Long Beach State will take on Saint Francis (Pa.) on Friday, Jan. 27 at 4 p.m., in a neutral site contest, before going head-to-head with top-ranked Ohio State on the Buckeyes’ home turf on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 4 p.m.
Courtesy Hawaii Athletics:
LONG BEACH, Calif. – The University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball team let a 2-0 lead disappear in a five-set loss to No. 4 Long Beach State, Wednesday, in its Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opener at The Pyramid. Set scores were 23-25, 21-25, 25-23, 33-31, 15-10.
The fifth-ranked Rainbow Warriors (5-1, 0-1 MPSF) suffered their first loss of the season after five straight wins to start the season while the Beach improved to 5-1 and 2-1 in league play. The teams play again in the rematch on Friday at 7:00 p.m. PT (5:00 p.m. HT).
UH was led by freshman Rado Parapunov, who made his first start of the season and finished with 23 kills, hitting .298, and five blocks. Freshman Austin Matautia added 16 kills and nine blocks and fellow frosh Patrick Gasman tallied 12 kills and five blocks. Libero Larry Tuileta posted his second double-figure dig total of the season with 12 while senior Hendrik Mol tied his career-high with nine kills along with five blocks.
LBSU’s Kyle Ensing led all attackers with 24 kills (.404) while TJ DeFalco added 22 kills. The 49ers hit a combined .429 in the final three sets.
After taking the first two sets, the Warriors were seemingly in control of the match. Despite letting Set 3 slip away, UH held leads of 11-6 and 19-17 in an epic Set 4 that saw the Beach hold off three match points. On the other end, the Warriors held off five set points until LBSU scored the final three on back-to-back hitting errors by Parapunov.
The Beach seized control of Set 5 with an early 8-4 lead and Hawai’i never threatened.
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