A historic rivalry lived up to its hype Saturday night.
2, 466 fans filled the Walter Pyramid to see the Long Beach State women’s volleyball team battle through a back-and-forth match against No. 9 Hawaii but ultimately fall short in four sets.
The crowd was the largest in the Pyramid for a women’s volleyball match since a contest against UC Santa Barbara in 2004.
The ‘Niners (11-10, 6-4 Big West Conference) never let the Rainbow Wahine (18-2, 11-0 Big West) pull away in any set, but Hawaii was able to make the necessary plays to close out sets two through four and win 24-26, 34-32, 26-24 and 25-22.
LBSU head coach Brian Gimmillaro said playing well enough to win is not enough if the right plays are not made in the clutch.
“How many opportunities did we have? I’m not into noble efforts,” he said. “We had our chances. It was an excellent volleyball match, but you’ve got to do it.”
After trailing 6-2 early in the opening set, The Beach rattled off eight straight points to take the lead and eventually earn the 1-0 advantage.
High tension would only begin to describe what transpired down the stretch in the second frame. LBSU was able to tie the set at 24, and from there it was tied at every point until 32. The Beach was able to win the serve back on the first six set point opportunities by Hawaii. It was all for naught, however, as the Rainbow Wahine eventually found a way to break through with two straight to win 34-32.
Hawaii then won another two closely-contested sets to close out the victory and keep its perfect Big West record intact.
The ‘Niners used a balanced attack led by freshman outside hitter Alex Reid, who compiled 20 kills and four digs on .404 hitting.
“Alex was good. She needed more help because a good team will start to key on her,” Gimmillaro said. “She was great in the first two sets but then it was hard to get the ball to her.”
Senior outside hitter Janisa Johnson added a double-double for the Beach with 14 kills and match-high 24 digs while hitting at a .156 clip.
Hawaii was paced, as usual by Emily Hartong. The junior outside hitter tallied a match-high 33 kills to go along with 15 digs on .329 hitting.
The ‘Niners return to action Saturday against Cal State Northridge. The match is set for 7 p.m. at the Pyramid.