Never before had brothers Taylor and Trevor Crabb took the floor as starters for the Long Beach State men’s volleyball team until Mar. 15 in a match against UC San Diego.
“It was pretty special,” said Taylor, the leading attacker for the 49ers. “It was one of the more memorable moments in my life.”
LBSU had to call on Taylor, a sophomore, to take up the setter role after all of the ‘Niners other assist-men were out with injuries.
With Taylor dishing out assists rather than killing them, older brother Trevor, a junior, filled the vacant outside hitter starting position in the first match where the brothers got to start with each other on the floor.
“It felt great,” said Trevor, who flourished in the starting role doing a little bit of everything with eight kills, six digs, and six blocks. “I just took the opportunity and made the most of it.”
Five of Trevor’s kills came off of assists from his little brother.
Trevor was unable to finish the match, however, after diving into a row of chairs to dig an errant ball.
“I thought he was going to get it,” said Taylor. “I didn’t realize he had to get staples.”
While diving for the ball Trevor got a sizable gash on his ankle that required staples to close the wound.
“It was nothing for him, though. He was only out one practice,” Taylor said.
Both of them grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii where they attended Punahou High School.
Trevor only played volleyball for the Buffanblu during his freshman year, making it so little brother Taylor never had a chance to take the court with his older brother.
Trevor decided to play basketball instead. He started for the 2008 Hawaii State Basketball Championship team averaging 10 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks per game.
His performance was good enough to garner him a spot on the basketball team at the University of Puget Sound, a small private university in Tacoma, Wash.
Crabb averaged only 2.7 minutes a game during his time playing basketball for the Loggers and decided to return to volleyball after being recruited by LBSU.
“I hadn’t played [at that level] in three years,” said Trevor. “I basically decided to play volleyball again.”
Younger brother Taylor, however, had been flourishing as one of the stars of the Punahou boy’s volleyball team.
Taylor led the team to back-to-back championships, including a perfect 23-0 season during his senior year.
His success earned him the prestigious Most Outstanding Player of the 2010 Division I Boys Volleyball State Championships.
When it came time to choose where to go to school LBSU was the no-brainer choice with older brother, Trevor, already there.
“[Long Beach] was something new,” said Taylor. “Having [Trevor] here already made it more like home and it was easier for our parents to come and watch.”
Both said they wanted to get out of Hawaii to experience something new despite missing home from time to time neither regret coming out to Southern California.
“Nothing could make me regret my decision to come here,” said Trevor. “I love it here.”
During the 49ers spring break, the volleyball team traveled to Hawaii to take on the University of Hawaii in two matches.
Because of the distance, LBSU only travels to Hawaii every other year and vice versa. This year was the first time Taylor had returned to his home state as a member of LBSU’s volleyball team.
“It was one of the only times I felt kind of nervous before a match,” said Taylor. “A lot of our family and friend’s families were there to watch.”
Taylor had 20 kills in the second match of the road trip tying a career high. LBSU took both matches to increase its winning streak to three matches.
With just two weeks left in the season and a tight race at the bottom of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, the ‘Niners will need all the help they can get from the Crabb brothers.
“Right now we’ve found our stride,” said Taylor. “We need to do the little things well and stay disciplined.”
LBSU will face No. 5 Stanford on Apr. 6 at Palo Alto and then travel to Stockton to take on No. 13 Pacific on Apr. 7. Both matches are scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
LBSU lost to both schools earlier on in the season when they visited the Walter Pyramid.