Warriors find their way past LBSU after blowing 2-0 lead

Hakala puts down 29 kills to lead Hawaii to its seventh straight win

LONG BEACH, Calif. » While driving back to the hotel last night, the Hawaii men's volleyball team van missed the off-ramp and had to take a different route before getting to its destination.

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It was the same scenario a bit earlier when the Warriors lost their way at The Walter Pyramid. No. 13 Hawaii managed to make a U-turn in time to pull out a 30-27, 30-20, 22-30, 27-30, 19-17 victory over No. 9 Long Beach State, pulling into a three-way tie for seventh in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation standings.

The Warriors got a match-high 29 kills from senior opposite Lauri Hakala and a career-high 15 block assists from senior middle Dio Dante to win their seventh in a row. It took 2 hours and 20 minutes for Hawaii to improve to 10-13 overall, 8-11 MPSF, winning a five-game match for the first time in four attempts this season.

"We were in total control and then decided to go to cruise-control," Warriors coach Mike Wilton said. "We never played very well after (going up 2-0). We struggled to score and I was not expecting that at all.

"The problem was not being able to pass. What was good is we did figure out how to win after letting them back in the match."

Hawaii had a 13-10 lead in Game 5 only to see The Beach score four straight and take the first of what would be four swings at ending it. The Warriors bent but did not break, tying it each time.

Matt Vanzant's 10th kill gave Hawaii its first chance to finish it at 18-17. It was the only one the Warriors needed, with Dante and Hakala teaming to block Norm Hutton, handing the 49ers their fifth straight defeat.

The teams meet again tonight (4 p.m. Hawaii time). The 49ers (11-14, 6-13), in 10th, desperately need to win to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

"I'd like us to play steady volleyball all the way throughout," Wilton said of the game plan for the rematch. "We did play some good volleyball tonight, but at some point we decided to not pass.

"We didn't do a very good job of persevering tonight. We backed off a little in Game 1, won by a lot in Game 2. In Game 3, they got going and we let Game 4 get away."

The 49ers' comeback in Game 4 had the Warriors flashing back to March 10 when Hawaii had a 21-13 lead on top-ranked Pepperdine in Game 4 only to lose it -- and the match -- 30-28.

Last night, the Warriors were up 22-16 when the 49ers began a 9-0 run, the final eight points coming as The Beach pulled its setter and went with a blocking substitution in the front row.

Teddy Liles netted his ninth serve, but the damage was done. The 49ers had taken the lead for good at 25-23 and rode the momentum to even the match.

The 49ers are now 5-6 in five-game matches. The Beach got 19 kills from Paul Lotman and 17 from Dean Bittner. Freshman Tommy Pestolesi -- whose parents both were All-Americans at Hawaii -- came off the bench for nine kills and five block assists.

Hawaii, the top blocking team in the MPSF, was outblocked 23-20.5 last night. Dan Alexander was in on 12 blocks and Lotman 11 for the 49ers.

The Warriors were also outdug, 46-40. Tyler Caldwell had 12 digs for The Beach while Eric Kalima had 11 digs and Ric Cervantes 10 for Hawaii.

Tied with the Warriors for seventh are Pacific and USC. Hawaii has the tiebreaker over both and, if finishing seventh, would host the play-in game with the No. 8-seed on April 18.