No. 2 Long Beach State Extends Home Winning Streak to 40 in 3-2 Victory Over No. 1 Hawai’i

Friday, April 12

Long Beach, Calif.

7:00 PM

Long Beach State University

24-1 (9-0Big West)

Hawaii

25-1 (8-1Big West)

Hawaii

Long Beach State

Photo by: John Fajardo

No. 2 Long Beach State Extends Home Winning Streak to 40 in 3-2 Victory Over No. 1 Hawai’i

4/12/2019 11:42:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

TJ DeFalco and Kyle Ensing led the Beach with 18 kills apiece in the five-set win

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

WATCH: @LBSUMVB head coach Alan Knipe and seniors Jordan Molina and TJ DeFalco talk about the team's 3-2 victory over Hawaii #GoBeach #LBNation https://t.co/kGIHh4Otcg via @LBSUAthletics
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) April 13, 2019

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LONG BEACH, Calif. – The No. 2 Long Beach State men's volleyball team won its 40th straight home contest on Friday night as the Beach handed No. 1 Hawaii its first loss of the season in an exciting 3-2 [24-26, 25-22, 16-25, 25-15, 15-13] victory in front of an electrifying crowd.

The Beach (24-1, 9-0 Big West) improved to a perfect 9-0 in Big West Conference action, while Hawaii (25-1, 8-1 Big West) dropped its first match since last April. LBSU has now won a program-record 40 consecutive home contests as the Beach has not lost a match inside the Walter Pyramid in more than three years.

A crowd of more than 4,000 was treated to a thrilling five-set contest that saw Long Beach State hit .344 and post a season-high 14.0 team blocks. The Beach were led offensively by TJ DeFalco and Kyle Ensing who each tallied 18 kills in the match. DeFalco hit .500 (18-4-28), while adding nine digs, four aces, four assists, and one block, meanwhile Ensing posted a .326 (18-4-43) attack percentage to go along with seven blocks, five digs, and two aces.

Setter Josh Tuaniga paced the LBSU offense as he distributed 47 assists, while adding five kills on six errorless swings for an .833 attack percentage. Tuaniga also contributed five digs and block in the contest.

Defensively, libero Jordan Molina racked up his 11th double-figure dig contest of his career as he finished with 10 digs.

Ensing led the squad at the net, while sophomore Ethan Siegfried came off the bench to post a career-best six blocks. Adding to Long Beach State's strong blocking defense were middles Nick Amado and Simon Andersen who finished the match with five and four blocks, respectively.

The conference foes opened the match going back-and-forth early in the first set. The two teams battled through five early ties before Hawaii went up 11-9. The Rainbow Warriors held the lead and pushed it to set point, 24-19, after a kill from Rado Parapunov. With their backs up against the wall, the Beach showed its grit as they fought back, rattling off five-straight points to even the score at 24-all. Despite the rally, Long Beach State would fall, 26-24, to Hawaii as the 'Bows took a 1-0 set lead.

The Beach came back in the second set and hit .438 as they knocked down 17 kills on 32 swings with just two attack errors. Long Beach State used a 5-0 run to take a 7-4 lead, before Hawaii bounded back and evened the score at 8-all. LBSU went back up 13-10, forcing Hawaii to call a timeout and held the lead the rest of the way. Although the 'Bows cut the Beach's lead down to one several time, Long Beach State remained in control and took the second set, 25-22, to even the match at two sets apiece.

Following the intermission, Hawaii came out strong and posted a .471 attack percentage in the third. The 'Bows took an early 3-0 lead and never trailed as they went up two sets to one after picking up a 25-16 win over the Beach.

After being held to their lowest points total in a single set all season, Long Beach State came back and turned the tables on Hawaii. The Beach hit a whopping .615 in the fourth set as they slammed 16 kills on 26 attempts without committing an error. LBSU was impressive as it posted a sideout percentage of 81% in the frame as the Beach led throughout the set. Long Beach State would go on to win the fourth set, 25-16, this time holding Hawaii to its lowest points total in a single set all season.

With the match tied at two sets apiece, the match all came down to the fifth and final set. The conference rivals exchanged points early on, but Long Beach State went on a 3-0 run to take a 6-3 lead over Hawaii as the 'Bows utilized a timeout. Following the break in action, Hawaii came back and evened the score at 9-9. A huge kill off the hands of Ensing gave LBSU a 10-9 lead and the Beach would hold the lead the rest of the way. Hawaii stayed close, but Long Beach State put the set and match away on a kill by Amado as the Beach won, 15-13.

BEACH WIN!!!! Nick Amado knocks down the kill to give LBSU a 15-13 win in set 5 to hand Hawaii its first loss of the season as the Beach win, 3-2 #GoBeach #LBNation https://t.co/PWfS1RN8rA pic.twitter.com/rtIuDWFG0E
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) April 13, 2019

Hawaii was led by Parapunov's 21 kills, while Stijn van Tilburg added 16 on a .500 attack percentage. Joe Worsley added 45 assists and seven digs, while Gage Worsley collected 15 digs, and Patrick Gasman put up five blocks. The 'Bows hit .322 in the contest with 10.5 team blocks.

Long Beach State and Hawaii will face off again on Saturday night at 7 p.m. inside the Walter Pyramid. The match is the final regular season home match for both squads and senior night for the Beach as they recognize their six seniors in a postgame ceremony.