A men’s college volleyball top-five showdown between No. 4 Hawaii and No. 2 Long Beach State at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, Calif. on Friday ended with a 22-25, 25-23, 26-24, 27-25 victory for the Beach.
Hawaii drops to 18-4 overall and 3-2 in Big West Conference play, while LBSU improves to 15-3 and 4-1 in conference matches.
All the latest sports news from Hawaii’s sports station
Each of the four sets were extremely close, with LBSU requiring extra points to take the final two sets along with the match.
Alex Nikolov and Spencer Olivier combined for 45 kills, including Nikolov’s match-high 23. Additionally, Aidan Knipe, the son of LBSU coach Alan Knipe, had a match-high 51 assists.
For Hawaii, Chaz Galloway was the only Rainbow Warriors to reach the double-digit mark in kills with 13, while Jakob Thelle had a double-double of 35 assists and 11 digs.
The ‘Bows and the Beach will conclude their series on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. HST. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU, as well as broadcasted live on radio via ESPN Honolulu.
