Saturday, April 23
Manoa, Hawaii
10:30 PM
Long Beach State University
20-5,8-2Big West
0
vs
3
Hawaii
24-5,7-3Big West
1
2
3
F
Long Beach St.
25
26
23
0
Hawaii
27
28
25
3
Photo by: Nico Alba
No. 3 Long Beach State Drops Hard-Fought Contest to No. 4 Hawaii in Big West Tournament Finals
4/24/2022 2:46:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
The top-seeded Beach fell in straight sets to No. 2 seed Hawaii in the Big West Conference Tournament Championship match
Box Score (PDF) | Photo Gallery
HONOLULU – No. 1 seed Long Beach State and No. 2 seed Hawaii battled each other through three competitive sets on Saturday night in the Big West Tournament Championship match at the Stan Sheriff Center. However, the Beach ultimately fell to the Rainbow Warriors by set scores of 27-25, 28-26, 25-23.
Long Beach State (20-5) and Hawaii (24-5) battled each other through 33 ties and eight lead changes, while the first two sets were decided in overtime as the Bows won the Big West Championship Title and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Beach, meanwhile, await the NCAA Selection Show as they hope to earn one of two at-large bids. The NCAA Selection Show will take place on Sunday, April 24 at 10 a.m. (PT).
In the closely contested match, LBSU hit .275 to UH's .368 attack percentage. Hawaii held the edge over Long Beach State in kills (53-43), assists (49-41), digs (35-32), and blocks (8-7), while both teams served up three aces.
The Beach took a quick 3-0 lead to open the match, but the Bows evened things up at 4-all. That would be the tale of the tape throughout the night as Long Beach State and Hawaii traded points the rest of the evening. In the first set, the conference foes battled each other through 16 ties and five lead changes as neither team led by more than three points. After three set points, Hawaii managed to close the set scoring three-straight points to win the opening set in overtime, 27-25.
Long Beach State took an early lead in the second set as the Beach held a 9-4 advantage over Hawaii forcing the Bows to call a timeout. Following the break in action, UH began chipping away at LBSU's lead and knotted the score at 15-all. From that point, the game was much like the first set as the two teams traded points and battled each other through four set points before the Bows recorded three-straight points to take the second set in overtime, 28-26.
Down two sets to none, Long Beach found themselves in a must-win situation. With LB Grit on full display, the Beach hit .345 in the frame and took an early 6-3 edge. However, Hawaii would not quit. With more than 6,000 fans behind them, the Bows used a 5-0 run to take a 14-11 lead over the Beach. Long Beach State managed to cut Hawaii's lead down to one on several occasions, but the Bows led the rest of the way as they held on to win, 25-23, handing LBSU its first sweep since 2019.
Freshman outside hitter Alex Nikolov concluded the contest with 19 kills, five digs, four blocks, and two aces, while hitting .286. Sophomore setter Aidan Knipe dished out 33 assists to go along with eight digs, and one block. Sophomore libero Mason Briggs anchored the defense with seven digs and 22 errorless receptions, while adding seven assists. Senior middle blocker Marc Moody posted four blocks, while junior outside hitter Spencer Olivier added eight kills, and junior middle blocker Shane Holdaway posted four kills, one block, one dig, and one ace, while hitting .444.
For Hawaii, Jakob Thelle led the way with a double-double finishing the match with 43 assists and 11 digs. Dimitrios Mouchlias and Spyros Chakas each recorded 16 kills, while Brett Sheward logged nine digs, and Guilherme Voss posted five blocks.
HONOLULU – No. 1 seed Long Beach State and No. 2 seed Hawaii battled each other through three competitive sets on Saturday night in the Big West Tournament Championship match at the Stan Sheriff Center. However, the Beach ultimately fell to the Rainbow Warriors by set scores of 27-25, 28-26, 25-23.
Long Beach State (20-5) and Hawaii (24-5) battled each other through 33 ties and eight lead changes, while the first two sets were decided in overtime as the Bows won the Big West Championship Title and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Beach, meanwhile, await the NCAA Selection Show as they hope to earn one of two at-large bids. The NCAA Selection Show will take place on Sunday, April 24 at 10 a.m. (PT).
In the closely contested match, LBSU hit .275 to UH's .368 attack percentage. Hawaii held the edge over Long Beach State in kills (53-43), assists (49-41), digs (35-32), and blocks (8-7), while both teams served up three aces.
The Beach took a quick 3-0 lead to open the match, but the Bows evened things up at 4-all. That would be the tale of the tape throughout the night as Long Beach State and Hawaii traded points the rest of the evening. In the first set, the conference foes battled each other through 16 ties and five lead changes as neither team led by more than three points. After three set points, Hawaii managed to close the set scoring three-straight points to win the opening set in overtime, 27-25.
Long Beach State took an early lead in the second set as the Beach held a 9-4 advantage over Hawaii forcing the Bows to call a timeout. Following the break in action, UH began chipping away at LBSU's lead and knotted the score at 15-all. From that point, the game was much like the first set as the two teams traded points and battled each other through four set points before the Bows recorded three-straight points to take the second set in overtime, 28-26.
Down two sets to none, Long Beach found themselves in a must-win situation. With LB Grit on full display, the Beach hit .345 in the frame and took an early 6-3 edge. However, Hawaii would not quit. With more than 6,000 fans behind them, the Bows used a 5-0 run to take a 14-11 lead over the Beach. Long Beach State managed to cut Hawaii's lead down to one on several occasions, but the Bows led the rest of the way as they held on to win, 25-23, handing LBSU its first sweep since 2019.
Freshman outside hitter Alex Nikolov concluded the contest with 19 kills, five digs, four blocks, and two aces, while hitting .286. Sophomore setter Aidan Knipe dished out 33 assists to go along with eight digs, and one block. Sophomore libero Mason Briggs anchored the defense with seven digs and 22 errorless receptions, while adding seven assists. Senior middle blocker Marc Moody posted four blocks, while junior outside hitter Spencer Olivier added eight kills, and junior middle blocker Shane Holdaway posted four kills, one block, one dig, and one ace, while hitting .444.
Set 2 | A rolling dig by Spencer Olivier and a block from Marc Moody and Alex Nikolov give the Beach an 8-4 lead #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/bzRbfhfdbV
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@lbsumvb) April 24, 2022
For Hawaii, Jakob Thelle led the way with a double-double finishing the match with 43 assists and 11 digs. Dimitrios Mouchlias and Spyros Chakas each recorded 16 kills, while Brett Sheward logged nine digs, and Guilherme Voss posted five blocks.
Team Stats
LBSU
Hawaii
Kills
43
53
Errors
15
14
Attempts
102
106
Hitting %
.275
.368
Points
53
64
Assists
41
49
Aces
3
3
Blocks
7
8
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
19
Aces
2
Blocks
4
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
4
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
L
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
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