The Hawaii volleyball team defied the odds, history and fourthranked Long Beach State for a pulsating 25-23, 19-25, 19-25, 27-25, 15-8 victory on Friday night.
"We needed it," UH middle blocker Taylor Averill said.
The 49ers had swept the three previous meetings, including Thursday night’s trouncing in the Stan Sheriff Center.
"They made us look foolish," UH opposite Brook Sedore said of the Rainbow Warriors’ Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opener. "We had to make it a point not to get humiliated in front of our fans again. We said, ‘This is our home court. People just don’t come into our house and do that to us.’ We had to make a statement."
It appeared the 49ers were ready for a hana hou when they dominated the second and third sets. But the Warriors rallied in the fourth. It was tied at 25 when LBSU middle Taylor Gregory served long. Then opposite Ian Satterfield smacked a D-set long to force extra play.
The 49ers took a 6-5 lead in the fifth set. But then the Warriors scored three points in a row to take an 8-6 lead they would not relinquish.
After LBSU closed to 8-7 on Dalton Ammerman’s kills, Averill smashed a kill to make it 9-7. Then UH middle Davis Holt made a solo rejection of an Ammerman spike.
After a timeout, Gregory’s back set sailed out of bounds. Satterfield then misfired again on a swing from the back right, extending the Warriors’ lead to 12-7 and forcing the 49ers to burn their second — and final — timeout. Gregory’s kill cut the deficit to 12-8. But the Warriors scored the final three points of the match. Holt was initially blocked, but he was set again, and crushed it for 13-8 lead.
Outside hitter Siki Zarkovic, who struggled in Thursday’s match, then hit over a double block to make it 14-8. Zarkovic and Holt then teamed to block Ammerman at aloha ball, trigging a wild celebration on the court. Asked about the final block, Davis said, "I blacked out. I don’t remember it all."
It was a memorable night for the Warriors, who struggled in recent years to solve the riddle of the 49ers and their outside hitter, Taylor Crabb.
Crabb, who plays with a stone face, has been a stone-cold killer. In Friday’s match, he accumulated 12 kills before making his first attack error, on his 22nd swing. he finished with 22 kills and 10 digs.
Ammerman, the 49ers’ secondbest hitter, missed the past two games because of an ankle injury. But he was used as a serving specialist in the first two sets before joining the rotation full-time. He finished with 11 kills.
Still, the Warriors were able to counter with their own offensive punch. Sedore, who struggled in last week’s Outrigger Invitational, slammed 24 kills on an arm-numbing 48 swings.
"I’ll be OK," Sedore said. "I’ll put some ice (on my arm), and I’ll be ready for our next practice." Holt did well in place of middle blocker Nick West, who will miss three weeks with a broken finger on his left (non-hitting) hand.
Freshman Kupono Fey contributed six kills and hit .364 in relief of co-captain Jace Olsen.
"We didn’t think (Thursday) night’s performance was in any way indicative of who we are," UH coach Charlie Wade said. "That was a bit of shock to our system to the guys. After that (match), the captains kind of called a playersonly meeting. We gladly stepped aside and let them find solutions. They came here (for the serveand-pass session) with every intention to play to the highest ability. All of the guys had nice performances. It was a nice win. I’m really proud of them."
