Hawaii men’s volleyball beats Long Beach State to win Big West
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Hawaii outside hitter Finn Kearney puts a kill past Long Beach State outside hitter Skyler Varga (4) and middle blocker Isaiah Preuitt (5).
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Hawaii setter Tread Rosenthal puts a kill past Long Beach State middle blocker DiAeris McRaven (19) and outside hitter Alex Kandev (12) during the third set.
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Hawaii outside hitter Louis Sakanoko, middle, celebrates with teammates after winning the Big West title.
The final arena sporting event of the academic year ended with another trophy for the Hawaii men’s volleyball program.
The second-seeded Rainbow Warriors claimed their fourth Big West championship and secured the automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament with a 25-21, 25-22, 21-25, 25-22 win over No. 1 seed Long Beach State tonight in the final of the Outrigger Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship.
A SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 8,540 witnessed UH’s second win over the No. 1 team in the nation in the past 14 days.
>> PHOTOS: Hawaii vs. Long Beach State
Freshman opposite Finn Kearney led the Rainbow Warriors with 14 kills and freshman outside hitter Adrien Roure added 11 kills and hit .579 for Hawaii (26-5), which has won the past four Big West tournament finals it has played in.
Hawaii hit .540 over the first two sets to take a 2-0 lead and came back after trailing 12-6 in the fourth.
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Louis Sakanoko had two aces to spur a 7-1 run to tie the match.
The set was tied 11 times, with the last coming at 20-20. A service error and a hitting error by the Beach were followed by two Sakanoko aces for match point. Long Beach State held off one point before a dump by setter Tread Rosenthal ended it.
Hawaii will find out its seed in the NCAA Tournament during the selection show on Sunday at 10 a.m. on NCAA.com. The tournament takes place May 8-12 in Columbus, Ohio
