LONG BEACH — Recent history continued to repeat itself in a handful of ways Friday whenever the Long Beach State and Hawaii men’s volleyball teams meet at the Walter Pyramid.
It just took a little longer than usual.
For a fifth consecutive head-to-head meeting, the rivals needed just three sets as second-ranked Long Beach State knocked off No. 1 Hawaii, 25-22, 25-20, 30-28, in a sweep in front of 4,012 fans.
“It was a good match, a hard-fought match,” LBSU coach Alan Knipe said after his team held off set point three times late in the third frame. “Being a little cleaner as the match went on in (transition), it was a little frantic at times. Part of that was just how hard everyone was playing. Both sides were fighting for every point.”
The victory snapped the Rainbow Warriors’ 16-match win streak, the longest in the nation, and gave LBSU (17-1, 3-0 Big West) a seventh consecutive victory.
It also was the 10th consecutive win at home in the head-to-head series dating back to 2017.
The programs, which split the regular-season series last season in Honolulu, went back and forth in the final set. The frame was tied 15 times, with eight lead changes.
The last instance was LBSU sophom*ore opposite hitter Skyler Varga’s kill to tie the set 27-27.
After Hawaii (17-2, 0-1 Big West) knotted the frame again at 28, LBSU junior outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis delivered a kill to jump back in front and an uncontested Hawaii attack error at the net by Guilherme Voss ended the match.
FINAL🏐: No. 2 Long Beach State finishes off the sweep of No. 1 Hawaii 25-22, 25-20, 30-28
Ends Hawaii’s 16-match win streak, the nation’s longest. Teams will meet again tomorrow here at 7 p.m. @BeachVarsity @johnwdavis pic.twitter.com/dtJmeq8a7X
— Tracy McDannald 📎 (@Tracy_McDannald) March 16, 2024
Varga had a match-high 12 kills, Siapanis added 10 and Nathan Harlan chipped in nine off the bench in a balanced attack for LBSU, which hit .337 for the match.
“Obviously, we want to play every game and win in three (sets), right?” Varga said of the importance of not letting the Rainbow Warriors extend the match. “Composure throughout the team. That second set, too, we showed a lot of composure. … It shows how much we push ourselves to get it done as quick as possible.”
The nation’s top blocking team also owned a 10 1/2 to 6 advantage, led by middle blocker Simon Torwie’s match-high six block assists. LBSU setter Aidan Knipe distributed 39 assists.
“Everybody moves around with everybody,” Harlan, who hit. 500 on 16 swings with just one attack error, said of his contribution. “It’s just being comfortable with that person throughout the week and it was kind of seamless moving those pieces in.”
Hawaii, which came in hitting a nation-leading .397, was limited to a .236 attack.
The Rainbow Warriors, though, were without two-time All-American and top attacker Spyros Chakas (knee), who suffered an injury in Sunday’s win over UC Irvine and is out for the season. Chakas averaged a team-leading 4.15 kills per set on a .417 hitting percentage.
“It’s a really, really unfortunate situation to a very good player and a really good kid,” Alan Knipe said. “Really enjoyed competing against him, our team competing against him. I know it’s a big deal for them. I really feel for anyone who gets that kind of injury.”
In Chakas’ place, Hawaii coach Charlie Wade started outside hitter Keoni Thiim. The junior finished with nine kills to complement Alaka’i Todd’s team-high 10.
Manhattan Beach native and freshman setter Tread Rosenthal (Mira Costa HS) had 29 assists for the Rainbow Warriors, who had 18 attack errors.
In the opening set, Long Beach inched out to a 15-14 lead at the first break in action. Hawaii had five of its six attack errors for the set in that stretch.
Tied 18-18, LBSU got a service ace from Harlan and a kill from Clarke Gobold to pull in front for good. It won the set 25-22 after a video review upheld a Hawaii attack error.
The video review continued to work in LBSU’s favor three more times in a short span late in set two, which it trailed 9-3 early.
Still trailing 19-18, Varga’s swing down the right side of the court was initially called out before Alan Knipe challenged the call and won to tie it 19-19. Varga, again, was on the swing when Hawaii was eventually called for too many touches after a review to give LBSU a 21-19 advantage.
LBSU then pushed the lead to 24-20 after a serve from Connor Bloom was reviewed and called in for an ace — the third time in the set a call was overturned at a similar spot on the right side of the court.
SET 2: Long Beach wins it 25-20 thanks to a THIRD overturned video review that went its way on a service ace, followed by this Nathan Harlan kill to close the set and take a 2-0 lead in the match @johnwdavis @BeachVarsity pic.twitter.com/v2kTVmKgj3
— Tracy McDannald 📎 (@Tracy_McDannald) March 16, 2024
The coincidence — and short span of reviews — even baffled Alan Knipe.
“No, not that many,” he said. “It’s really the guys using their head, not their heart, when they say what they think they saw, was it in, was it a touch. So, it’s a lot off the feedback I get from them.”
Varga, though, joked that he wasn’t entirely confident when he swayed his coach to challenge the plays.
“Yeah, I honestly had no idea,” Varga said. “I’m more than nine meters away from that ball, so I can’t see anything.”
The teams will return to the Walter Pyramid court Saturday at 7 p.m.
