LONG BEACH, Calif. » Emily Hartong established personal bests in kills and digs while helping Hawaii survive an uneven performance in a hard-fought match against Long Beach State on Friday night.
Hartong finished with 33 kills and 15 digs as the ninth-ranked Rainbow Wahine repelled the 49ers 24-26, 34-32, 26-24, 25-22 in Big West Conference play in front of 2,466 at the Walter Pyramid.
Hawaii (18-2, 11-0 Big West) earned its 11th consecutive victory and extended its winning streak in conference matches to 66, best in the nation.
Hartong’s performance also extended her own streak of personal success. In her previous five matches, the junior averaged 4.75 kills per set and 19 per game while hitting .314.
Hartong was not the only Wahine who achieved personal bests against the 49ers (11-10, 6-6). Ashley Kastl amassed a career-high 19 digs to go with 13 kills. Jade Vorster added 13 kills, five block assists and a solo block, while Kalei Adolpho punched a personal-high 10 kills.
Nevertheless, coach Dave Shoji expressed concern with his team’s concentration.
"We made so many unforced errors," Shoji said. "We couldn’t convert the off plays. It was a struggle all night."
The 49ers made that struggle worse by displaying a different personality than the one they showed while getting swept Sept. 29 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
"Long Beach played an unbelieveable match, especially defensively," Shoji said. "I knew they would be tough, but they made a lot of defensive plays that we didn’t expect."
The teams exchanged the lead 20 times and forced 50 ties —18 of them in the second set.
"They kept coming at us and coming at us," Shoji said.
The 49ers expressed that tenacity early. Long Beach used an 8-0 surge in the first set to turn a 6-2 deficit into a 10-6 advantage.
UH’s Tai Manu-Olevao tied the score at 24 with a kill, but Long Beach’s Chisom Okpala and Tyler Jackson used tips to secure the first set — during which Hartong struggled.
"I was really concerned," Shoji said, "because on the first five swings she took, she had no topspin on any of her balls and she sailed a couple out."
After adjusting her swing, Hartong compiled 10 kills in the second set and nine in each of final two sets.
"I knew that I needed to get more on top of the ball," the junior said. "I was kind of hitting underneath and, therefore, a lot of balls were soaring out."
Despite Hartong’s improvement, UH had seven chances to win the set before finally doing so — and needed two crucial plays to prevent the 49ers from reaching set point.
After Hartong blocked Long Beach’s Alex Reid at the left antenna, Alyssa Longo dived to recover the deflection — and hit the ball while prone into an open space to put UH ahead 27-26. Then Mita Uiato beat the 49ers’ Janisa Johnson to a free ball for a tip that gave the Wahine a 28-27 lead.
With the score tied at 32, UH finally scored two successive points to win. Hartong pounded a spike from the left side for the lead. Then Vorster and Uiato combined to block Reid for the victory.
In the third set, Hawaii led 23-20 before Long Beach scored four successive points. But the 49ers’ Tiara Wallace missed a spike to tie the score at 24. Hartong and Vorster followed with kills that ensured victory.
UH trailed 21-20 in the fourth set, but kills from Manu-Olevao and Adolpho resulted in a 22-21 lead before Ginger Long’s service error tied the score.
Adolpho’s 10th kill gave the Wahine a 23-22 advantage. Long Beach’s Bre Mackie punched a spike long, and Emily Maeda served an ace to end the match.
Notes
The Wahine play at UC Irvine today at 4 p.m. The match will be broadcast live on 1500-AM and streamed live on bigwest.tv.
