No. 1 Hawaii returns the favor in sweep of No. 4 Long Beach State

Reversals were the theme of the night at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

A night after being swept by Big West rival Long Beach State, the top-ranked University of Hawaii men’s volleyball team returned the favor in a 25-16, 25-23, 25-23 sweep of the fourth-ranked Beach in tonight’s rematch played before a crowd of 8,818.

The pivotal point of the match involved a reversal of a call late in the second set when it initially appeared Long Beach State had rallied from a 24-20 deficit to tie the set. Instead, UH coach Charlie Wade issued a challenge and after a lengthy review a net violation was called on Long Beach State giving UH the set and a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Warriors trailed 23-22 in the third set but scored the final three points of the match and closed out the sweep with back-to-back blocks. UH outside hitter Spyros Chakas stuffed Clarke Godbold on match point for the last of the Warriors’ 11 blocks.

>> PHOTOS: Hawaii vs. LBSU

UH outside hitter Chaz Galloway led the Warriors (18-2, 1-1 Big West) with 11 kills on 21 attacks to hit .429. Chakas finished with 10 kills and setter Jakob Thelle had 25 assists for an offense that hit .385 with just six attack errors against a Long Beach State team that entered the week as the nation’s top blocking team.

Spencer Olivier led Long Beach State (12-3, 3-1) with 14 kills on .417 hitting and Godbold added 11. Outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis, who had 19 kills while hitting .531 on Friday, finished with nine kills and seven errors to hit .067.

The sweep capped UH’s five-week homestand and the Warriors open a two-match road trip at Cal State Northridge on Friday.