LONG BEACH, Calif. >> If anyone ever questioned the value of a home court that was more than answered on two of the past three Saturday nights.
Fifteen days after Hawaii rode an emotional wave to turn back Long Beach State at the Stan Sheriff Center for the Big West men’s volleyball championship on April 21, the 49ers more than returned the favor at their Walter Pyramid. And the Beach did it when it counted the most — in the NCAA national final.
If anyone ever questioned why TJ DeFalco was named the national player of the year for a second time in his career that was emphatically answered Saturday night as well, some 2,500 miles from Honolulu. The Long Beach State senior hitter, named the tournament’s most outstanding player, had a match-high 20 kills and three aces as the 49ers successfully defended their home court and their title, 23-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-23.
Not only was it the sixth consecutive time the Rainbow Warriors left the Pyramid with a loss, it was the second straight time it ended the season, this time for the program’s winningest senior class (90 victories in four years).
The six aces corresponded to the point-differential between the two evenly matched squads, two that many consider to be among the best in this era of men’s college volleyball. After 2 hours and 28 minutes, Long Beach State — which lost in the first NCAA championship to UCLA in 1970 — won the 50th in the first championship showdown event between two Big West teams in any sport in the 50 years of the conference.
It was the first time this season that the match between the only teams ranked No. 1 this year didn’t go five sets, and “I think having composure late was a huge difference,” 49er senior setter Josh Tuaniga said, finishing with the team’s other three aces and directing an offense that hit .472. “It has gone five so many times … we said ‘now we got to buckle down and execute some good volleyball.’”
The crowd was about one-third the size of the Hawaii throng that witnessed the Warriors’ sold-out victory two weeks ago, 3,824 to 10,300. But it was equally intense and the 49ers fed off the energy in the final three sets.
“It felt like an NBA final to me, going back and forth, and playing big, physical, close matches and seeing the absolute respect that these teams have for each other,” 49ers coach Alan Knipe said. “It was on display all four matches we had against these guys.
“It’s an incredibly special thing to win the last game of the season. I don’t care where it is. To win the last in the Pyramid is incredible.”
It ended with Hawaii falling short at the end of Set 4. The Warriors took what would be their fourth and last lead at 18-17.
The 49ers came out of a timeout with a 3-0 run that put them ahead for good. Hawaii got as close at 23-22 and 24-23, but no closer with DeFalco punctuating his outstanding career with his final kill to end it.
DeFalco hit .667 in Set 4 with six kills and no errors on nine attempts. Each one felt like a dagger in what was Hawaii’s first shot at a banner in 17 years.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our guys,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said. “They brought our community together and that was so powerful to see an entire state get behind this team, how the people of Hawaii have embraced this team.”
It wasn’t the time for critiques, Wade said, but looking at the statistics there were a few glaring ones. For starters, Hawaii had 20 momentum-killing service errors.
There was also the Warriors’ serve-receive, which allowed eight aces, and passing that had senior setter Joe Worsley going more to his outside hitters.
“They were bringing a lot of pressure with their serves,” said Worsley, who had two of the team’s three aces. “It created some issues for us.”
That included consistency and timing. Hawaii junior opposite Rado Parapunov finished with a team-high 16 kills, but only eight came after Set 1. Senior hitter Stijn van Tilburg had 11, five in a Set 3, where the Warriors jumped out 5-0 but then were outscored 12-5.
Junior Colton Cowell added 10 kills and a swing in Set 2 that he wishes he could take back. With Hawaii trailing 14-11 and Parapunov serving, Cowell had a wide-open net on the service overpass but sent it long. Instead of 14-12, it was 15-11, a margin that expanded to 18-13 as the Beach evened the match.
But the momentum had shifted and continued during the final two sets. All the 49ers had to do was look up into the vast space that is the Pyramid ceiling and see their 2018 championship banner hanging.
They saw the place where their next one would go and that was the push they needed to defeat what some called the best second-place team ever.
“In many other years, this Hawaii team would have beaten the teams that won the championship,” Knipe said.
