The Long Beach State women’s volleyball team extended its win streak to ten with a five-set win off back-to-back Big West Conference champion Hawai’i on Friday at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The Beach (20-4, 10-0 Big West Conference) won the match 27-25, 25-22, 18-25, 17-25 and 15-10 in its second five-set thriller against Hawai’i this season. This was the first time LBSU defeated Hawai’i at the Stan Sheriff Center since 1993, giving the Rainbow Wahine (16-6, 8-3 Big West) their first home loss in the conference this season.
“[Friday] was a great match,” head coach Brian Gimmillaro said. “Both teams played exceptionally well. It was fast and aggressive. It was really a tight, hard-fought match to win – the hardest of the year.”
The 49ers got off to a 4-0 run to start in the fifth set with the help of outside hitter Sophie Bukovec, who had two kills and a solo block.
UH came back to tie the set 4-4, but The Beach secured a lead with another 4-0 run ignited by two big Beach blocks.
The ‘Bows came within one point, but opposite hitter Anete Brinke had a kill and a service ace to extend the lead to three.
“That fifth game is a roll of a dice, but we got off to a poor start, ” Hawai’i head coach Dave Shoji said in an interview with OC Sports after the game. “It’s encouraging in some ways, but it’s really disappointing we couldn’t come away with a win tonight.”
The 49ers picked up a three-game lead ahead of the conference’s second place team, putting them in first place with only six matches left in conference.
Outside hitter Alex Reid led both teams with 13 kills, while the ‘Bows’ Kalei Adolpho led with six blocks.
“Coulda, woulda, shoulda,” Shoji said in the interview with OC Sports. “We just made too many errors. We hit out at crucial points of game one and game five. You just can’t win when you make mistakes at the end of games.”
LBSU won the first meeting against the Rainbow Wahine in five sets on Oct. 11, which was the first time the 49ers had beaten the ‘Bows since 2001.
The defensive battle between both teams continued from their first meeting as the 49ers had 82 digs in the match compared to the Rainbow Wahine’s 70, but UH finished with 16.5 blocks to LBSU’s 10.
LBSU’s setter Jenelle Hudson had a match-high 53 assists, and libero Tyler Jackson led both teams with 19 digs. She was one of nine players in the match with double-digit digs.
After the intermission, the Rainbow Wahine held LBSU to .056 hitting in the third set. In the fourth set, The Beach hit .242, but the Bows surpassed the 49ers and hit .452.
“We passed better, took care of the ball [and] our blocking assignments were better,” Shoji said. “We put them in a little bit of trouble.”
Gimmillaro said his team became impatient in both sets that they let slip and lost focus.
“We wanted the win more than we wanted to play,” he said. “With that, you get distracted and start to try to win in one play, in one rally.”
LBSU held Hawaii to -.188 hitting in the fifth set while the 49ers hit .368.
Reid led the night with 16 kills and added 14 digs, Bre Mackie had 15 kills and Chisom Okpala had 14 kills. Middle blocker Ashley Murray added nine kills and a team-high five blocks.
Nikki Taylor led the Rainbow Wahine with 17 kills and had 8 blocks, and Adolpho had a match-high nine blocks with nine kills.
The 49ers will host Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara in back-to-back games in the Walter Pyramid this Friday and Saturday.