Oh, so close.
No. 6 Hawaii came within one point of ending No. 1 Long Beach State’s perfect season Friday night — four times coming within a point — only to fall short after 3 hours and 13 minutes. The Rainbow Warriors had four swings at winning the marathon, only to walk out of the Stan Sheriff Center after a 25-16, 17-25, 26-24, 25-27, 22-20 Big West loss.
Junior hitter Stijn van Tilburg and sophomore opposite Rado Parapunov each had 20 kills, but it was not enough, as the 49ers (24-0, 9-0) defeated the Warriors a sixth consecutive time. Reigning national player of the year TJ DeFalco had a match-high 22 kills with 13 digs to break the hearts of 3,877 fans.
“We played well enough to win,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said. “Being down in the fifth (as much as 10-7) and battling back … I’m proud of the guys and how they played.
“If that’s the No. 1 team in the country, we’re damn close. We just have to play better tomorrow. When we served well, that was the difference. We were able to get them out of system.”
Hawaii had 19 service errors, just one in Set 5. That came at 14-12, when freshman defensive specialist Gage Worsley’s error gave the 49ers some hope and they used a hitting error by sophomore middle Patrick Gasman to tie it at 14.
In their first five-setter of the season, the Warriors (17-7, 5-4) had four set points, the last at 19-18. The 49ers rode the arm of DeFalco at the end, with the junior hitter putting down his team’s last three kills and The Beach getting their 14th block when Josh Tuaniga and Nick Amado teamed to stuff van Tilburg.
“Five-setters, when they go that long, it could go either way,” DeFalco said. “Hard to say what wins it for us at the end. We kept pressing for the next play.
“At 14-12 you’re just thinking, ‘Pass the ball and get our guy behind the (service) line.’ Hawaii played great, we were expecting that.”
The teams meet again tonight at 7, the regular-season finale for both.
The conference rivals frustrated each other’s attackers all night, each finishing with 60 digs and four players in double digits. Long Beach State’s junior libero Jordan Molina had a match-high 15 and Hawaii senior libero Tui Tuileta 14.
Junior middle Dalton Solbrig finished with a career-high 12 kills and junior setter Joe Worsley had a double-double (54 assists, 12 digs) for the Warriors, whose four-match win streak was snapped. Van Tilburg also had a double-double, adding 11 digs.
Hawaii was chasing early, down 4-0 to open Set 1. It didn’t get much better, with The Beach digging the Warriors’ best shots, holding a 10-2 edge and a 15-8 lead.
It was 19-8 when Tuaniga, brother of former Warrior Gus, was done with his service run and Hawaii was out of timeouts. The Warriors never got closer than eight and never got close to running a varied attack, with their middles taking just five swings, putting down two.
The momentum traded sides with the teams. Hawaii took its first lead of the night at 2-1 and The Beach took its last at 3-2. Van Tilburg got hot, with four kills among the Warriors’ next five. Solbrig capped the 6-0 run with an ace.
Van Tilburg added an ace and a kill, and Hawaii extended the margin to 22-13. At 24-15, the Warriors needed two attempts to end it, getting it on a 49ers service error.
It was just the eighth set Long Beach State dropped all season, and the first where the 49ers were held under 21 points.
Set 3 was all about serving, the 49ers’ success and the Warriors’ not so much … until late. Reserve freshman Ethan Siegfried (Punahou) came into the match with four aces this season — he had his second and third of the night in putting The Beach up 17-12.
Hawaii was down by five — one fewer than the number of its service errors in Set 3 —through 21-16. Parapunov had two consecutive kills to pull the Warriors to 21-20, only to have the 49ers go on a 3-0 run to take set point at 24-20, the last point coming on a dig of Brett Rosenmeier by Jordan Molina that landed back on UH’s side of the court.
Hawaii held off four set points behind Rosenmeier’s serving run that included an ace, tying it at 24. Amado’s fourth kill gave the 49ers their fifth set point. They would not need another, with Parapunov hitting wide, giving The Beach a 2-1 lead.
Despite four service errors, Hawaii led by as many as four, 23-19. The Beach answered, tying it at 23.
The Warriors took what would be the first of three set points on a Kyle Ensing hitting error. The teams traded points, with the 49ers blocking Rosenmeier for the seventh and last tie at 25.
Hawaii stuffed DeFalco twice, sending it to a fifth.
