Long Beach State overpowers Hawaii men’s volleyball

This was not the block party Hawaii had envisioned in its first home match in 18 days.

No. 1 Long Beach State became the stuff that volleyball nightmares are made of, with a 10-0 edge in blocks through two sets, and 17.5-3 on what was a very long night for the Rainbow Warriors. The 49ers (14-2, 11-2 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) snapped a four-match losing skid to Hawaii in resounding fashion, handing Hawaii its fifth loss in six contests, 25-19, 25-17, 22-25, 25-20 Wednesday night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

A crowd of 2,046 saw the Warriors (10-6, 5-6) go to a completely revamped lineup for the final two sets as UH coach Charlie Wade went with a group only seen in the practice gym. Outside of starting senior libero Kolby Kanetake and freshman opposite Stijn van Tilburg, the rest of the “B” side more than held its own, bringing much needed energy and a nothing-to-lose attitude.

“It was awesome to let the fans see the effort that we see every day in practice,” said freshman Joe Worsley, who took over setting duties after Set 3. “We were young out there but everyone kept fighting.”

Van Tilburg shared match-high honors, finishing with 17 kills. Kanetake added 11 digs to move up to No. 6 on the all-time career list and, with 702, is the sixth Warrior to reach 700 digs.

It was an early senior night moment for Kanetake, who was surrounded by freshmen and a senior hitter making his first appearance of the season in Brandon Hiehle.

“It was good for me, made me become more of a leader,” Kanetake said. “It wasn’t the skill set that our young guys brought. It was the mind-set. I’m proud of them.”

The 49ers’ youth corps, with three freshman starters, prevailed after 2 hours and 10 minutes. Freshmen hitters TJ DeFalco and Kyle Ensing combined for 29 of the team’s 50 kills, DeFalco with 17 and Ensing with 12.

The two connected well with setter Josh Tuaniga, another freshman, with Tuaniga setting Long Beach State to a .356 night, including .520 in Set 2.

“It’s a pretty special group,” 49ers coach Alan Knipe said after his team’s eighth straight win. “Hawaii’s second team did a nice job coming in. They had nothing to lose. I credit our guys with settling down in the fourth and getting back into a rhythm.”

Gregory and Bryce Yould were each in on eight blocks for the 49ers and DeFalco seven.

Hawaii was outplayed from net to baseline in Set 1, outblocked 6-0 with no aces and six service errors. Long Beach State hit .391 with just one error to the Warriors’ .125.

It didn’t get any better in Set 2 for Hawaii, still without a block, and hitting .077. It was enough for Wade to go with his own youth movement, completely revamping the lineup to go with five freshmen, Hiehle in fourth appearance of his two-year career, and Kanetake.

The who-da-guys brought it in Set 3, both with energy and effectiveness. The Warriors picked up their first block when freshman middle Dalton Solbrig and freshman hitter Brett Rosenmeier stuffed Taylor Gregory for an 8-5 lead.

There were nine ties, the last at 14 with Hawaii using three consecutive 49er hitting errors to pull away for good.

Set 4 was tight early, the 10th tie at 11 on a kill by Hiehle. One of the Warriors’ 16 service errors put The Beach ahead for good and three straight aces by DeFalco helped put it away.

Wade said he overrode his staff’s decision when changing the lineup after Set 2.

“Our starting guys have been in a funk,” Wade said. “There’s a certain level of expectations and we were getting it.

“I liked what I saw in the level of effort (after Set 2), the guys were back to having fun out there. There was no pressure at all. It was not a popular decision with the rest of the staff but I think it was the right thing to do. Now it’s back in the practice gym tomorrow.”

DeFalco finished with a double-double with 10 digs to go along with seven blocks and four aces.

MPSF VOLLEYBALL

Wednesday Long Beach State def. Hawaii 25-19, 25-17, 22-25, 25-20 UC Santa Barbara def. Southern Cal 25-19, 25-19, 25-21 UCLA def Cal Baptist 25-18, 25-19, 25-13 Thursday Stanford at UC San Diego Friday Long Beach State at Hawaii, 7 p.m.,Stan Sheriff Center CS-Northridge at BYU Cal Baptist at UC Santa Barbara Stanford at UC Irvine No. 1 Long Beach State def. No. 7 Hawaii, 25-19, 25-17, 22-25, 25-20

Key — s: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct: hitting percentage; d: digs; bs: block solo; ba: block assists; pts: points (kills plus blocks plus aces).

Service Aces — LBSU 7 (DeFalco 4, Gregory, Tuaniga, Yould). Hawaii 1 (Mol).Service errors — LBSU 18 (Gregory 5, DeFalco 4, Tuaniga 3, Yould 3, Ensing 2, Huus). Hawaii 16 (van Tilburg 4, Hiehle 3, Namahoe 2, Zarkovic 2, Cowell, Mol, Rosenmaier, Worsley). Assists — LBSU 47 (Tuaniga 43, DeFalco, Huus, Sato, Yould). Hawaii 45 (Worlsey 21, Franciskovic 17, Kanetake 4, Rosenmaier 2, van Tilburg). T — 2:10. Officials — Donna Hess, Wayne Lee. A — 2,046.