Hawaii edges Long Beach State in five sets on night one

The last time the University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball team beat Long Beach State inside the Pyramid, most of the current roster hadn’t entered middle school yet.

That changed on Friday night as No. 3 Hawai’i (18-3, 1-0 Big West) opened the conference schedule with a statement, downing No. 2 Long Beach State (14-3, 0-1 Big West) in five sets on the continent, (26-24, 23-25, 25-19, 20-25, 15-12).

Kristian Titriyski led the Rainbow Warriors to the road victory, tallying a team-best 13 kills on 35 swings while adding four blocks and five digs in the grind-it-out slugfest against LBSU. The sophomore opposite missed the last three matchups with the Beach for UH with a variety of injuries, but made his impact felt on Friday as he finally debuted against one of the program’s biggest rivals.

Hawai’i sophomore Kristian Titriyski puts down a kill from the left side for match point against Long Beach. | Photo: Brock Jones (@brockhawaii)

Tread Rosenthal was one of more than a handful of players to go down with a cramp during the match but remained in by practically playing on one leg. The 6-foot-11 junior setter dished out 35 assists while tallying seven kills in eight swings and five block assists as he helped will the Rainbow Warriors over the finish line to an elusive victory in the Pyramid.

The night’s opening frame set a tone of needing to go the extra distance to secure a win to begin Big West play, seeing Long Beach State fight off three UH set points before the first frame ended with an ace from Hawai’i middle blocker Justin Todd.

Both squads hit for their highest percentage in the night’s opening set, seeing the Rainbow Warriors tally a scorching .455 hitting percentage while the Beach committed six attacking errors but still racked up .382 of their swings while on the offensive.

After a 7-3 start by the Rainbow Warriors, the second set saw a similar tug-of-war between the Big West heavyweights as the Beach fought back to take a 15-14 advantage by the midway point of the frame behind the help of some sloppiness from Hawai’i. LBSU would eventually secure the stanza, 25-23, to tie the match at a set apiece after the Rainbow Warriors committed 12 errors in the frame.

The third set gave a case of déjà vu to onlookers as Hawai’i jumped out to a 7-3 advantage once again, but Long Beach State hit just .065 as a group in the frame as the Rainbow Warrior block began to get more active on the way to a comfortable 25-19 decision.

Middle blocker Ofeck Hazan was inserted into the lineup after the second set and made an impact for Hawai’i. | Photo: Brock Jones (@brockhawaii)

Long Beach state swung back with a comfortable win of their own in the fourth round between the rivals, forcing a winner-take-all fifth set after holding Hawai’i under .100 on the attack themselves.

Tread Rosenthal became the latest of the multitude of players on the night to fight through a lower leg cramp, going down to the floor multiple times to get stretched out in the fourth set. Hawai’i already watched junior outside hitter Louis Sakanoko put on his jacket and sit for the remainder of the night after cramping in the second set and two separate LBSU players had also folded to the floor after having muscles tighten throughout the match.

“The cramping thing, it’s got to be related to the heat here in Southern California,” head coach Charlie Wade told Set Point’s Teran Rodriguez following the match. “I know that we’re scheduling team IV here tonight in the postgame so we can have a shot to come back out and get another win tomorrow.”

Hawai’i secured the first win in two chances at Long Beach State with another tug-and-pull tight set to finish the night, taking the fifth frame behind a rejuvenated Kristian Titriyski. The sophomore nearly put up a flatline on the stat line entering the final stanza with 10 kills and nine attack errors, but finished the night with three more massive kills, no more errors and his only ace of the match to help clinch a 15-12 deciding frame over LBSU.

Freshman opposite Wojciech Gajek had a career-high 22 kills to lead the Beach, adding a pair of aces and eight digs in the loss. Senior outside hitter Skyler Varga tacked on 15 kills and committed eight attacking errors on 43 swings for LBSU.

Hawai’i and LBSU will go for Round 2 on Saturday night inside the Pyramid. First serve is scheduled for 4 p.m. HT and can be watched with an ESPN+ subscription.

The Hawai’i faithful that made the trip were stand for match point against Long Beach. | Photo: Brock Jones (@brockhawaii)

Setter Tread Rosenthal celebrates after a point in the early stages of the match. | Photo: Brock Jones (@brockhawaii)