Beach cleanup

LONG BEACH, Calif. >> The Hawaii women’s volleyball team dispatched one of its biggest rivals in the Big West Conference and now will face one of the league’s best defensive teams.

The sixth-ranked Rainbow Wahine extended their winning streak to 12 matches with a 25-11, 25-21, 25-16 victory over Long Beach State on Friday night in front of 2,421 at the Walter Pyramid. Tonight, they end the road trip against UC Irvine.

Despite being winless in Big West play, Irvine (9-7, 0-2) ranks second in total blocks (155) and blocks per set (2.5). Middle blockers Shannon Fleming and Arielle Manz are first and third in blocks, while libero Arden Davis has 177 digs, third best in the conference.

“They’re pretty balanced,” UH coach Dave Shoji said. “They have middles who can attack and they’re pretty good on the pin. We won’t be able to stack our block against one particular player. We can’t have a letdown.”

A letdown was the last thing on the Rainbow Wahine’s mind against the 49ers, whom the coaches voted to finish second to Hawaii in the preseason poll.

“We have a long history of rivalry with Long Beach,” said UH outside hitter Emily Hartong, who finished with a match-high 14 kills. “We knew Long Beach was a good team and they challenged us last year. So we came out right away with a lot of energy and we used the crowd to get involved.”

Aiding the Rainbow Wahine were Long Beach’s physical problems.

Middle blocker Haleigh Hampton played with a flexible cast on her left knee. She made her first appearance since Sept. 1 after suffering a stress fracture. Opposite hitter Bre Mackie missed the previous two matches with a sprained right ankle.

Nevertheless, Long Beach State took a 7-6 lead in the first set before UH scored the next nine points to move ahead 15-7. Hartong had two kills and a block assist during the rally, while Kalei Adolpho participated in two blocks and pounded one kill.

Tai Manu-Olevao then ended the first set by leading a 7-0 spree with three kills and two block assists. By contrast, the 49ers hit .000 in the first set and .079 for the match.

“We thought that if we broke down their passers, they wouldn’t be able to set their middles as much,” Hartong said. “They’re a quick offensive team, so we knew they’d be running plays all over the court. We had to slow them down.”

UH built an 8-0 lead in the second game and led 18-6 before the 49ers rallied. A 6-2 run made it 20-12. The Rainbow Wahine went up 22-12 before the 49ers ran off seven points in a row, forcing Shoji to call two timeouts during the spree.

Chisom Okpala amassed four kills and participated in two multi-player blocks during the spree.

Hartong then emerged from the back row to bang a kill that extended the lead to 23-19. Long Beach escaped set point at 24-20 on Delainey Aigner-Swesey’s kill. But Adolpho and Mita Uiato combined to block Alex Reid to secure the victory.

Then in the third set, a hitting error proved pivotal.

UH held a 7-5 lead when Okpala pounded a free ball for an apparent point that would have put the 49ers one point behind. But Okpala touched the net during her follow-through, resulting in a violation that gave the Wahine an 8-5 advantage.

Nikki Taylor contributed 11 kills and Manu-Olevao smashed 10 kills, as the Wahine hit .310.