Long Beach State sweeps Warriors

All of the formulas could not help Hawaii avoid Saturday’s 25-14, 25-18, 25-18 volleyball loss to Long Beach State in the Pyramid.

By dropping the second of the two-match series, the Warriors fell to 1-6 overall and 0-4 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

All of their MPSF matches have been on the mainland.

The 49ers improved to 5-2 and 3-1.

The Warriors tried to rebound from Friday’s controversial five-set loss in which a certain aloha ball was overruled. There would be no disputing Saturday’s outcome. Led by Hawaii-raised Taylor Crabb, the 49ers cruised.

Crabb, a Punahou graduate, is about 6 feet and 160 pounds. But he launches spikes with his powerful right arm and accurate passes with his platform-straight forearms.

Crabb blasted a match-high 15 kills (against three errors) on an efficient 23 swings. For the series, he had 37 kills and hit .371.

This time, Crabb received strong support. Left-side hitter Dalton Ammerman put down 10 kills and hit .318. Jeff Ornee added nine kills on 16 swings.

Ornee entered the season as a middle blocker and played there in the first four matches. He moved to opposite, opening the way for second-year freshman Taylor Gregory to join the starting lineup. Gregory has become a weapon as an attacker (five kills, no errors) and blocker.

The Warriors, meanwhile, had little to show for all of their moves. The Warriors used all 14 players on their travel roster. None added to an offense that has struggled from the pins.

Through the early part of the season, JP Marks, a converted left-side hitter, has been the go-to attacker at opposite. Marks had one kill in seven swings in the first set.

Brook Sedore, who has emerged as the Warriors’ best server, was summoned for the middle set. Sedore led the Warriors with eight kills, and mystified the 49ers with his sizzling serves.

But the Warriors could not consistently find points from other sources. Left-side hitters Sinisa Zarkovic and Jace Olsen had four kills apiece. Zarkovic hit negative-.067; Olsen managed .077 efficiency.

The Warriors had difficulty from the opening serve. They did not register their first kill until the match’s 10th point. The 49ers raced to a 14-4 lead en route to an easy first-set rout.

The second appeared to mirror the first, with the 49ers going ahead, 9-3. The Warriors chipped away, eventually taking a 17-16 lead on a double block by Nick West and Johann Timmer. But the 49ers scored nine of the next 10 points to take the second set.

The Warriors scored the first point of the third set, then never led again.

The Warriors play host to Pepperdine this coming weekend.