WARRIOR VOLLEYBALL
Long Beach State sweeps hobbled Hawaii squad
STORY SUMMARY »
Up until 2005, the Hawaii men's volleyball team had dropped only one conference opener in 13 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation seasons.
With last night's sweep by No. 6 Long Beach State, the Warriors have now lost the last three.
Paul Lotman had 21 kills and The Beach outblocked Hawaii 13.5 to 5.5 en route to sweeping the Warriors 32-30, 30-20, 30-22 at the Stan Sheriff Center last night.
The victory broke a four-match losing streak against Hawaii for the 49ers dating to a four-game upset in the 2005 MPSF tournament quarterfinal.
No. 6 Long Beach State (3-0, 1-0) and No. 12 Hawaii (1-3, 0-1) meet again at 7 tonight.
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The patchwork quilt that is the Hawaii men's volleyball team unraveled early last night against Long Beach State. A pair of starters who were penciled into the Warriors lineup were erased by either the flu or injury.
Long Beach State (3-0, 1-0 MPSF) at Hawaii (1-3, 0-1)
When: Today, 7 p.m.
Where: Stan Sheriff Center
TV: KFVE Ch. 5
Radio: KKEA 1420-AM
|
The first clue that it was going to be a long night?
Reserve setter Nejc Zemljak, pressed into service on the outside for just the second time in his life, was Hawaii's kill leader through two games with eight.
It didn't get much better for Zemljak or 12th-ranked Hawaii. Zemljak finished with nine kills and the Warriors lost their Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opener for the third consecutive season.
Led by senior hitter Paul Lotman's 21 kills, No. 6 Long Beach State swept Hawaii 32-30, 30-20, 30-22 in 1 hour and 45 minutes. A Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 1,227 saw the 49ers (3-0, 1-0) end a four-game losing streak against the Warriors (1-3, 0-1).
The teams meet again at 7 tonight.
Which Hawaii team The Beach will see is a mystery for the 49ers and the Warriors, who were without starters Matt Rawson (flu) and Jim Clar (abdominal strain).
"We certainly didn't see the Hawaii team we had prepared for," 49ers coach Alan Knipe said. "We did struggle a bit in Games 2 and 3, there wasn't that sense of urgency we'd like to see. We want to be more consistent tomorrow."
The Warriors did see some improvement late when they got into a rhythm. But it wasn't enough to compensate for being outblocked 13.5 to 5.5 -- no blocks in Game 3 -- or shaky passing that gave up six aces and numerous overpasses that resulted in Long Beach State kills.
"We showed we could compete with them, but we just have to do better," said Zemljak. "We need to fight more."
For a second match in a row, Zemljak was in the lineup at outside hitter, as much to stabilize the back-row passing as anything else.
"He's one of our better passers," Hawaii coach Mike Wilton said. "He's doing a pretty good job too on the outside.
"Tonight we came out flat and I was surprised by that. But give Long Beach credit for some of our problems. They served tough and they're a good team. I still think we can be a nice team. We're still finding ourselves."
Hawaii found itself down early, but hung tough late in Game 1, climbing back from a 28-25 deficit to tie it at 29. It was tied once more at 30, with the 49ers earning their fourth game point on Lotman's ninth kill. Lotman finished it off with an ace.
The Warriors didn't fold but couldn't find much consistency when they tried to mount challenges in Games 2 and 3. Freshman opposite Brennon Dyer and senior hitter Brock Hutchins both gave Hawaii a lift when they were inserted after Game 1, with Hutchins putting down his ninth kill in pulling the Warriors to within 24-21 in Game 3.
A 49ers hitting error made it 24-22, but Hawaii would get no closer. Dyer's service error started a 6-0 run by Long Beach State that completed the sweep.
Dean Bittner added 12 kills for the 49ers -- six coming in Game 3 -- and was in on six blocks. Dan Alexander had 10 kills.
Long Beach St. def. Hawaii
32-30, 30-20, 30-22
49ers (2-0, 1-0 MPSF)
|
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Lotman |
3 |
21 |
5 |
36 |
.444 |
1 |
1 |
5
|
Klipsch |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
1 |
3 |
5
|
Friend |
3 |
4 |
3 |
11 |
.091 |
1 |
2 |
5
|
Anderson |
3 |
3 |
0 |
6 |
.500 |
1 |
5 |
5
|
Bittner |
3 |
12 |
3 |
21 |
.429 |
0 |
6 |
2
|
Alexander |
3 |
10 |
1 |
18 |
.500 |
0 |
4 |
1
|
Watten |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
5
|
Schlesinger |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
1
|
Shea |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Eaton |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Totals |
3 |
50 |
12 |
92 |
.413 |
3 |
21 |
29 |
Warriors (1-3, 0-1 MPSF)
|
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Grgas |
3 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
-.200 |
0 |
2 |
2
|
Carney |
3 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
-.167 |
0 |
1 |
4
|
Matic |
3 |
1 |
2 |
7 |
-.143 |
0 |
3 |
3
|
Frank |
3 |
3 |
2 |
8 |
.125 |
0 |
3 |
3
|
Schkud |
2 |
7 |
4 |
20 |
.150 |
0 |
0 |
1
|
Zelmjak |
3 |
9 |
4 |
22 |
.227 |
0 |
1 |
5
|
Hutchins |
2 |
9 |
6 |
18 |
.167 |
0 |
0 |
4
|
Cervantes |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
6
|
Dyer |
2 |
8 |
2 |
14 |
.429 |
1 |
0 |
1
|
Totals |
3 |
38 |
23 |
100 |
.150 |
1 |
9 |
26 |
Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- LBSU (6): Lotman 3, Anderson 2, Klipsch. Hawaii (4): Carney 2, Zelmjak. Assists -- LBSU (49): Klipsch 45, Watten 2, Friend, Anderson. Hawaii (35): Carney 32, Cervantes 2, Dyer 1.
T -- 1:45 Officials -- Dickson Chun, Wayne Lee. A --1,227.
MPSF standings
|
Conference |
Overall
|
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
GB |
W |
L
|
Pepperdine |
1 |
0 |
1.000 |
-- |
1 |
0
|
CSU Northridge |
1 |
0 |
1.000 |
-- |
3 |
1
|
Long Beach St. |
1 |
0 |
1.000 |
-- |
3 |
0
|
Stanford |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
1/2 |
2 |
0
|
UC San Diego |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
1/2 |
1 |
0
|
UCLA |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
1/2 |
2 |
1
|
UC Irvine |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
1/2 |
2 |
2
|
Hawaii |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
1/2 |
1 |
3
|
BYU |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
1/2 |
0 |
0
|
Pacific |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
1/2 |
0 |
2
|
USC |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
1 |
1 |
3
|
UCSB |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
Yesterday
Long Beach State def. Hawaii 32-30, 30-20, 30-22
Today
Long Beach State at Hawaii, 7 p.m.
Pacific at UC Irvine
BYU at UC San Diego
UC Santa Barbara at USC
Stanford at UCLA