The No. 9-ranked Long Beach State men’s volleyball team swept No. 14 Hawaii – 25-19, 25-22, 25-21 – in a crucial Mountain Pacific Sports Federation matchup Friday night at Stan Sheriff Center.
LBSU (12-12, 7-10 MPSF) extended their win streak to two games and is now tied with No. 7 Pepperdine for sixth in the MPSF.
Before Friday’s contest LBSU had dropped four straight matches to the Warriors.
Senior Srdjan Nadazdin has led the LBSU attack for three straight matches after putting up a team-high 11 kills on 28 attempts. Fellow senior Ryan Meehan added eight kills and five blocks.
LBSU continues their success on the defensive side of the ball by out-blocking Hawaii 9-3.
Senior Steven Hunt led the Warriors with a match-high 18 kills on 42 attempts.
LBSU dominated the first set by posting 13 kills on an impressive .440 clip while holding their opponents to 12 kills on just .171 hitting.
LBSU pulled away in the first set after junior Brad Hemmerling aced the Warriors to put LBSU up 14-12.
The Warriors tried to bounce back in the second set, but LBSU’s defense held them at bay by registering five blocks. Hawaii hit only .100 in the set and had nine errors.
Both teams traded points in the second until a four-point lead late gave The Beach all they needed to secure a two set lead.
LBSU began the third set on a 6-1 run capped by back-to-back kills by sophomore Jeff Ornee.
All signs pointed to a sweep until the Warriors mounted a comeback that put them down one in the middle of the third set. A Nadazdin attack error put Hawaii down only 17-16.
LBSU answered with a 4-1 run to put the Beach up 21-17. It would be all the ‘Niners would need to seal the sweep.