The No. 5-ranked Long Beach State men’s volleyball team returned to action against No. 10 Hawai’i on Saturday at the Walter Pyramid only to get swept in three sets – 25-23, 27-25, 25-17.
LBSU (10-10, 8-7 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) has now dropped four of their last five matches at home, while the Warriors (12-9, 10-6 MPSF) have won six in a row.
“It was frustrating those first two sets and then the third set we made a couple subs, and they didn’t work out,” interim head coach Andy Read said. “I’m the guy responsible for that one.”
Junior Jim Baughman led the 49ers with 14 kills and five blocks, while freshman Taylor Crabb tallied 11 kills and seven digs. Senior Mike Klipsch also finished with 33 assists and seven digs.
LBSU had no answer for Hawai’i’s tandem attack of sophomore opposite Jonas Umlauft, who finished with a match-high 22 kills for the second night in a row and Joshua Walker, who added 14 kills.
Both teams immediately picked up where they left off on Friday.
Just like Friday, the score was close until a late run by Umlauft left the Warriors in charge of their own fate.
With Hawai’i trailing 23-22 in the first frame, the sophomore opposite hammered down three consecutive kills to give the Warriors the set.
The largest lead either team held in the first set was three, and the second frame was no different.
It wouldn’t be until late in the set that either team would be able to pull away. Hawai’i took a 24-21 lead on a Jim Baughman attack error, but LBSU would not go down without a fight.
A kill by Crabb and two Hawai’i unforced errors evened the score at 24.
LBSU’s ninth and final attack error of the second set put them away, though. Crabb sent an attack down the line that landed just wide of the line to give Hawai’i a two set advantage.
Read opted for a younger lineup in the third set sending out Crabb, red shirt freshman middle blocker Jeff Ornee, and freshman setter Connor Olbright to try and quell the Warriors’ seemingly unstoppable attack.
To no avail, the young lineup went down quickly and found itself on the receiving end of a 10-4 deficit.
Read then replaced Olbright with veteran starter Mike Klipsch, but after losing the two sets LBSU seemed to have lost its fire.
The stalemate that had existed between both squads ended when the Warriors silenced LBSU’s comeback in the second frame.
Hawai’i looked dominant throughout the third set and held LBSU to a paltry .171 hitting percentage.
“We were trying to hit smart shots, but [Hawai’i] put up a great block,” Crabb said.
The Beach finished with a .250 hitting percentage, while the Warriors posted a .310 clip.
LBSU will look to recover from their performances in the past three weeks as they begin a four-match road stretch next weekend for a pair of 7 p.m. contests.
The 49ers will face No. 15 Pacific on Friday before taking on Stanford on Saturday.
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