LONG BEACH » The effort was there, even if the result wasn’t.

The No. 21-ranked University of Hawaii women’s volleyball team played considerably better than the night before, but it wasn’t enough in front of a hostile Long Beach State crowd as the Rainbow Wahine fell to the 49ers, 25-15, 22-25, 26-24, 21-25, 15-11 Saturday night in a Big West Conference game at The Pyramid.

"We had our chances, we just weren’t able to close it," said Hawaii coach Dave Shoji.

Hawaii (12-5, 4-2 Big West) played from behind all night, but stood just four points away from victory before Long Beach finished them off. Tied at 11 in Set 5, the 49ers tallied the game’s final four points, the last coming on a crosscourt kill by Bre Mackie, her 20th kill of the night.

"It was a typical Long Beach State-Hawaii match like we’ve played 100 times before," said 49ers coach Brian Gimmillaro after the match.

The victory puts Long Beach (14-4, 4-0 Big West) in the driver’s seat for the Big West title this season, as it stands in first place in the standings as the only undefeated team remaining in conference, with Northridge (12-4, 3-1 Big West) and Hawaii each carrying losses.

"This loss definitely hurts our chances to win the conference, but we get both Northridge and Long Beach at home. It’s a long way to go and anything can happen, but we have to get better. Every match is critical for us now," Shoji said.

UH got off to another slow start to a match. The 49ers led 18-8 and still won the set by 10 points despite a late five-point run from the Rainbow Wahine. Long Beach had five team blocks and hit .296, while limiting a potent Hawaii attack to .033 hitting.

"I thought it was going to be another quick night like the night before," said Shoji, referring to Hawaii’s three-set loss to Northridge on Friday.

But unlike Friday, Hawaii fought back in Set 2, erasing a 19-17 deficit by winning eight of the final 11 points, despite missing starting middle blocker Olivia Magill, who suffered a muscle strain to her left leg and sat out the remainder of the match. Shoji said Magill will see a doctor on Monday following their flight back home.

Knotted at 24-24, Hawaii was in position to win Set 3, but an Ashley Murray kill and a controversial back-row attack violation gave the 49ers the set.

Sparked by reserves Emily Maglio and Keani Passi, the Rainbow Wahine tallied 13 of the final 17 points to erase a 17-12 deficit and win Set 4.

"Emily and Keani … I got to thank them because I was hanging out there," said junior outside hitter Tai Manu-Olevao, who recorded two key service aces that crawled over the top of the net in the set.

Set 5 was close, but the 49ers never trailed. Leading 11-9, Long Beach committed a hitting error, and Maglio found the floor on a roll shot from the back row to knot the game at 11.

Manu-Olevao led UH with 16 kills, but hit just .054 for the match. Freshman Kalei Greeley added 10 kills. For the match, Hawaii hit just .131.

"You’re not going to win very many matches hitting like that," said Shoji.

Mackie hit .327 with nine blocks and eight digs, and senior Chisom Okpala added 13 kills. As a team, Long Beach had a .193 hitting percentage.

The loss snapped a seven-game win streak against Long Beach. The 49ers hadn’t defeated the Rainbow Wahine since November 2000.

"We hit rock bottom on this trip, but the only way we can go from here is up," said Manu-Olevao.

Hawaii returns home for two conference matches, Oct. 24 against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Oct. 26 versus UC Santa Barbara.

BIG WEST VOLLEYBALL

Saturday
Long Beach State def. Hawaii, 25-15, 22-25, 26-24, 21-25, 15-11
UC Irvine def. Cal Poly 25-23, 25-20, 25-18
UC Santa Barbara def. Cal State Fullerton, 25-23, 25-20, 17-25, 25-16
UC Davis def. UC Riverside, 25-14, 25-17, 25-20
Next Hawaii matches
Friday, Oct. 24
Cal Poly at Hawaii, 7 p.m., Stan Sheriff
Sunday, Oct. 26
UC Santa Barbara at Hawaii, 5 p.m., Stan Sheriff Center

CSTV/AVCA DIVISION I COACHES TOP 25 POLL
No. 15 Illinois def. No. 5 Penn State 26-24, 16-25, 25-23, 25-22
No. 7 Colorado State def. Fresno State 25-15, 25-7, 25-17
No. 10 BYU def. Saint Marys 25-12, 23-25, 27-25, 25-13
No. 14 Purdue def. Indiana 25-15, 25-27, 25-8, 25-23
No. 20 USC def. Utah 25-14, 25-20, 21-25, 25-18
Long Beach State def. No. 21 Hawaii 25-15, 22-25, 26-24, 21-25, 15-11
No. 23 Minnesota def. Rutgers 25-8, 25-17, 25-21
Ohio State def. No. 24 Northwestern 25-21, 26-24, 17-25, 25-17
No. 25 Loyola Marymount def. Pepperdine 25-21, 26-24, 25-23

LONG BEACH STATE DEF. NO. 21 HAWAII 25-15, 22-25, 26-24, 21-25, 15-11

RAINBOW WAHINE (12-5, 4-2)

LONG BEACH STATE (14-4, 4-0)

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 — Hawaii 10 (Manu-Olevao 6, Mendoza 2, Higgins, Taylor). LBSU 5 (Cabrajac 2, Mackie, Reid, Jackson). Service errors — Hawaii 12 (Manu-Olevao 3, Greeley 3, Taylor 2, Ponce 2, Higgins, Mendoza). LBSU 11 (Cabrajac 4, Hudson 3, Mackie 2, Murray 2). Assists — Hawaii 47 (Higgins 35, Koelsch 4, Mendoza 4, Greeley 2, Maglio 2). LBSU 51 (Hudson 43, Cabrajac 2, Jackson 2, Mackie, Murray, Okpala, Lawmaster). T — 2:24. A — 2,416. Referees — Tony Chan, Maile Jewkes.