By Davis Ramage
Back-to-back sellout crowds at the Walter Pyramid saw the No. 2 Long Beach State men’s volleyball team drown No. 1 Hawai’i with two enthralling performances (3-0, 3-2).
The Beach won in dominating fashion on Friday night, sweeping Hawai’i in straight sets (25-22, 25-20, 30-28) and extending their win streak to five along the way.
The 3-0 Beach win sent a statement to the country that Long Beach State is a force to be reckoned with atop the AVCA/NVA National Collegiate rankings.
Sophomore opposite hitter Skyler Varga led the team in kills with 12 while adding a block and an ace to his outstanding night.
“Skyler was an absolute beast all weekend in every part of the game,” head coach for Long Beach State Alan Knipe said. “There was times throughout the last two nights that we jumped on his back and he carried us.”
3/16/24 - Long Beach, Calif: Sophomore opposite Skyler Varga came up huge for Long Beach State as he scored two 10-plus kill games during the back-to-back game against Hawai'i as The Beach beat them in those two games. Varga scored 15 kills, two serve assists and four digs as Long Beach State won 4-3 in overtime against Hawai'i at the Walter Pyramid. Photo credit: Samuel Chacko
Long Beach State dominated the box score as it led in every statistical category including assists (42), aces (5) and blocks (10.5).
A thrilling third set that ended 30-28 in The Beach’s favor closed out the game and handed the Rainbow Warriors their first conference loss of the season.
Saturday night’s game would not go as smoothly for The Beach as the Rainbow Warriors took two sets, but it was not enough to deter a Beach team that had around 4,000 people willing it on to a 3-2 victory [25-20, 20-25, 25-23, 24-26, 15-13].
The second two-day game saw junior outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis lead Long Beach State in kills with 17, contributing to another impressive hitting performance in which The Beach would outhit Hawai’i again, .279 to .248.
The Beach’s presence at the net played a huge factor in prevailing over the Rainbow Warriors as they put up 20.5 blocks on the game including 10 from senior middle blocker Simon Torwie and eight from junior middle blocker DiAeris McRaven.
3/16/24 - Long Beach, Calif: Long Beach State senior libero Mason Briggs fed off The Sandpit and the fully packed out Walter Pyramid's energy against the Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors. With every point and dig allowing each team closer to victory, Briggs' seven digs played a huge role in The Beach winning a 3-2 overtime victory. Photo credit: Samuel Chacko
The ever-steady senior libero Mason Briggs added seven digs to The Beach’s total of 41, giving him 16 on the weekend.
In a match that had been tightly contested from the start, the fifth and final set was no different as there were four ties. However, The Beach was never down in the set and came out on top 15-13, closing out the game and sending the Rainbow Warriors packing.
“It’s great volleyball and it is played at the highest level […] when you combine that, that’s must-see sports,” Knipe said.
With no games next week, The Beach is back in action against UC San Diego at the Walter Pyramid on Friday, March 29 at 7 p.m.
