LONG BEACH, Calif. >> In less than 27 hours, the nation’s only undefeated men’s volleyball team became the second best in the Big West Conference.

Top-ranked Hawaii, finishing second in the conference standings, takes the second seed into next week’s Big West tournament following a second consecutive five-set loss Saturday night to second-ranked Long Beach State, the defending NCAA champion.

The 49ers achieved their 25-16, 18-25, 13-25, 25-23, 15-10 victory in front of a standing-room only crowd of 4,674 — the largest attendance for a men’s volleyball match at the Walter Pyramid. The Beach also extended its home winning streak to 41 after 2 hours and 26 minutes.

UH (25-2, 8-2) thus returns to the Stan Sheriff Center, the conference tournament site, with a bye into Friday’s 7:30 p.m. semifinal where the Rainbow Warriors will face either third-seeded UC Irvine or sixth-seeded UC San Diego. Top-seeded Long Beach State meets the winner of Thursday’ quarterfinal between fourth-seeded UC Santa Barbara and fifth-seeded Cal State Northridge.

The Warriors also return home knowing how they compare to the 49ers (25-1, 10-0), winners of their second successive Big West regular-season title.

“Ultimately, we still think we’re a better team than they are,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said. “We go toe-to-toe with them two nights in a row at their place. I don’t think there’s any question in our players’ minds that we can beat this team.”

Warrior junior hitter Colton Cowell agreed.

“We watched a lot of film on these guys,” Cowell said. “In person, it was nice to see that, if anything, the margin of us not being able to stop them is inches.”

But Long Beach State has three players who can make inches seem like miles: outside hitter TJ DeFalco, setter Josh Tuaniga and opposite Kyle Ensing, all seniors.

“Those are three guys who have been among the best players in men’s college volleyball since they started playing,” Wade said. “This is the best that Long Beach has been in this four-year span in the history of their program.

“You’ve got three guys who are literally national team players, playing with the senior national team in the summer. That’s never happened. They can play at another level.”

DeFalco made his biggest impact in Set 4 with five kills, four digs, two aces and a block assist in helping the 49ers tie the match.

“We handed it to them pretty well for a couple, then he flipped the switch in the fourth set,” Wade said. “It was impressive. That is next-level stuff. Clearly, he’s the best player in college volleyball.”

DeFalco also played a pivotal role in the final set, when he had two kills and a block assist during a 5-0 blitz that turned Long Beach’s 2-1 deficit into a 6-2 lead. The assist came when the 6-foot-4 DeFalco teamed with Nick Amado to stymie the Warriors’ 6-foot-10 Patrick Gasman.

After the Beach’s sophomore hitter Ethan Siegfried (Punahou) served into the net to make it 6-3, the 49ers responded with a 5-1 spree to build an 11-4 advantage. UH aided Long Beach’s cause by committing two hitting errors and a service error.

For the second time in two nights, the 49ers sabotaged UH’s attack. The Warriors hit only .298 for the match — .040 in the first set and minus-.167 in the final set. Meanwhile, the Beach finished with a 15.5-6.5 edge in blocks, including 6.5-0 in Set 1 against the top blocking team in the country.

For the second time in two nights, the 49ers frustrated reigning conference player of the week Rado Parapunov. The junior opposite finished with 13 kills but hit just .135.

Gasman finished with 12 kills, tying his career best, while Dalton Solbrig pounded five of his eight kills during Sets 2 and 3.

“They put a little more pressure from behind the service line and our passing created, not necessarily bad opportunities for the middle, but more difficult opportunities to run a quicker-tempo set,” Cowell said. “It made the Long Beach blockers become a little more aware of where the ball was going to be going, dictated by the pass.”

Hawaii senior hitter Stijn van Tilburg, who didn’t have a kill in Set 1, finished with a team-high 17. He also passed Carlos Briceno (1,340) for seventh place on the program’s kill list (1,354). Senior Joe Worsley finished with his first double-double of the season (46 assists-12 digs) and had three of the team’s six aces. Sophomore libero Gage Worsley added 12 digs.

DeFalco punched a season-high 21 kills and added 11 digs, eight block assists and two aces. Siegfried set a career best with 16 kills while hitting .556 and tied a career high with 10 digs. Tuaniga, the reigning AVCA national player of the year, added 46 assists.

Despite the losses, Cowell expressed determination.

“They hit very difficult shots to defend, but we’re going to keep watching film,” he said, “and we’re looking forward, hopefully, to being able to compete against them again, and play better defense.”

When asked if the losses will provide motivation for next week’s Big West tournament, Cowell quickly responded: “Absolutely.”