Long Beach State rallies to beat Hawaii in 5 sets for the Big West title
IRVINE, Calif. — With five match points in the fourth set, the top-seeded Hawaii men’s volleyball team had its fingertips on a fifth Big West championship trophy. Defending national champion Long Beach State refused to let the Rainbow Warriors get their full hands on it, rallying in incredible fashion to pull off a 20-25, 27-25, 22-25, 30-28, 15-11 stunner in the final of the Outrigger Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship on Saturday night at Bren Events Center.
Freshman Jackson Cryst, the only middle blocker to make the All-Big West first team, ended the fourth set with back-to-back aces, setting the stage for another freshman to take over. Opposite Wojciech Gajek, from Katowice, Poland, hit . 489 and put down his match-high 27th kill on LBSU’s fourth championship point to give the Beach (24-4) their third Big West crown and the automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
“They had a game,” Hawaii junior setter Tread Rosenthal said. “Wojciech hit (almost) . 500, saved them in that fourth set.
Sometimes that stuff just happens. ” Gajek, who was named the tournament Most Valuable Player, had five kills in the fifth set after helping Long Beach State, with no room left for error, survive in the fourth. Gajek had four kills on UH’s five match points to keep the fourth set going.
Cryst, who is one of four Long Beach players in the top five in the Big West in service aces per set, had five service errors before going back-to-back before and after a UH timeout to send the game to a fifth. “We were down in the fourth and then up in the fourth and then it was back and forth and I give (Long Beach State) a lot of credit,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said. “The opposite made some really big swings.
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