They were playing for seeding, playing for that all-important first-round bye in next week’s Big West tournament.
More importantly on Saturday night, they played for each other, their two seniors, and for a crowd of 4,832, which braved the weather in order to celebrate the final home matches for two keiki o ka aina, libero Tui Tuileta and defensive specialist Mamane Namahoe. The fans were treated to an epic five-setter for a second consecutive night, and for the fifth straight season, Hawaii sent its seniors off with a victory.
Sophomore opposite Rado Parapunov put down 19 kills, including the match-ender, and junior hitter Stijn van Tilburg put down 17 kills to lead the sixth-ranked Rainbow Warriors to an upset of No. 1 Long Beach State, 25-21, 22-25, 23-25, 25-20, 15-11 in 2 hours and 59 minutes. It ended the 49ers’ perfect season after a program-best 24-0 start, and gave Hawaii (18-7, 6-4) the second seed in next week’s tournament hosted by LBSU.
In Friday’s first semifinal at the Walter Pyramid, the Warriors will take on Thursday’s winner between third-seeded UC Irvine and sixth-seeded UC San Diego. The 49ers will take on the winner of Thursday’s second semifinal between fourth-seeded Cal State Northridge and fifth-seeded UC Santa Barbara.
Junior hitter TJ DeFalco had a season-high 25 kills and junior opposite Kyle Ensing, recording his 1,000th career kill in Set 4, added 14 for the 49ers (24-1, 9-1). DeFalco added a team-high 10 digs for a double-double.
Hawaii pulled away from a 10-10 tie in Set 5, getting a kill by Brett Rosenmeier, two kills by Parapunov and an ace by freshman defensive specialist Gage Worsley to set up match point. The Warriors, who had four match points on Friday but couldn’t close, didn’t fail this time, with Parapunov nailing his last attack and sending the entire Hawaii team onto the court.
Tuileta finished with 15 of Hawaii’s 49 digs. Sophomore middle Patrick Gasman was in on seven of the Warriors’ 10 blocks.
“This was huge, especially emotionally for us,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said. “It puts us back into the conversation for an at-large (NCAA) berth in case we don’t win the Big West tournament.
“This was a mark of distinction. We did something that no one else has been able to do. And (the 49ers) have played some pretty good teams.”
The crowd was treated to the Warriors performing a haka to honor their two seniors.
“This was big for us, a big step for us,” Tuileta said. “To give them their first loss was big.
“It shows how resilient this team is.”
Set 1 was the stuffs — literally — on which Hawaii’s success was built. The Warriors had three consecutive blocks, all on reigning national player of the year DeFalco, while gaining set point at 24-20.
The teams traded points, with Hawaii ending it on a service error from Beach setter Josh Tuaniga. It was just the 10th set the 49ers dropped this season, and the third against the Warriors.
DeFalco more than got revenge in Set 2. Besides picking up his 12th kill, he had serving runs of 5-0 then 3-0 to have Long Beach State in control at 22-16.
Hawaii closed to 23-21, helped by two kills from junior setter Joe Worsley, but could get no closer, with junior opposite Ensing evening the match with his ninth kill.
Set 3 was tight, with four lead changes and 10 ties, the last at 18. A kill by Bjarne Huus jump-started a 3-0 run that put the 49ers ahead for good at 21-18.
Hawaii answered, closing within one three times, including holding off one set point to pull to 24-23. Van Tilburg netted on his attack to give the Beach the 2-1 lead.
Junior middle Dalton Solbrig’s 3-0 service run in the fourth gave Hawaii the lead for good at 6-4. The Warriors survived five service errors to force a fifth set for the second straight night, just the second five-setter for Hawaii and the third for the 49ers.
