The562’s coverage of Long Beach State athletics for the 2025-26 season is sponsored by Marilyn Bohl.

After a thrilling five-set loss to No. 3 Hawai’i (19-3, 2-0) in Friday’s Big West opener, Saturday served as a reality check for No. 2 Long Beach State (14-4, 0-2). The Beach had an opportunity to respond in the second match at the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid but instead it turned into a disastrous night-two finish, as the Rainbow Warriors swept LBSU 25-18, 25-23, 25-20.

The loss marks the first time the Beach has lost both of its regular-season matches to Hawai’i since 2021, the same year Hawai’i went on to claim its first of two straight NCAA national championships.

“We have no other choice. We’re going to continue to respond, lean in and improve our craft from top to bottom,” LBSU coach Nick MacRae said. “We’ll take 24 hours, then come in Monday and start our prep for Northridge. We’ll keep this weekend in mind and with our matches against UCLA and Hawai’i, knowing those are the teams we’re preparing to be at our best for when we cross paths again later on.”

One of the few positives from the weekend was the performance of freshman opposite Wojciech Gajek, who continued his tear after a monstrous showing on night one. Gajek once again led the match in kills with 16, hitting a team-best .367 at the pins while also recording an ace and three block assists.

Gajek’s contributions have been especially important for a Beach team dealing with a recent wave of minor injuries, as he’s taken over as the full-time starter on the right side over the past month. Even veteran players like Skyler Varga have fed off his energy.

“He might be young, but he’s got a lot of experience on the international stage,” Varga said of Gajek. “It kind of feels like he’s another leader out there, and he’s doing a great job bringing the energy while staying composed. He’s done a great job the last two nights, but we’ve got to help him out too.”

Perhaps Long Beach’s best set of the night came in the second set, where the Beach managed its best .292 hitting percentage while going the entire set without a service error. The Beach nearly reached set point at 23-20 before giving up a 5-0 Hawai’i run to shut the door on its most promising opportunity of the night.

The lousy finish to the second set has been a theme in the Beach’s four losses against Hawai’i and UCLA. The Beach led at the midway point of each of its fifth sets against the two top-3 opponents and also held leads down the stretch in both third sets against UCLA, including an opportunity for a night-one sweep, but ultimately couldn’t close out any of those sets.

“We’re always going to be talking about composure late—execution and composure. That’s late in sets, late in matches and late in the season,” MacRae said. “So we’ll continue to address that the rest of the way via the Big West, the Big West Tournament and into the NCAA Tournament as well.”

The Beach was dominated by Hawai’i in the first and third sets and finished a rough third set with 14 total errors, including nine from the service line after going the previous set without one. After a night polluted with errors on Friday, the Beach still had 31 total errors through three sets on Saturday to Hawai’i’s 23.

Hawai’i hit .473 on the night compared to LBSU’s .218, getting an efficient night-two performance from Louis Sakanoko with 15 kills while hitting a match-high .619. Kristian Titriyski also had a more efficient night hitting .400 with 11 kills, while Tred Rosenthal added 33 assists and three kills.

Gajek was the only hitter in double-figure kills for the Beach while Varga finished behind him with seven kills on .267 hitting. Fellow outside Alex Kandev chipped in six kills on .188 hitting.

LBSU will now move forward with Big West play as they look ahead to a pair of matches against CSUN next week. The Beach will be at CSUN on Friday before hosting the Matador’s in the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid on Saturday.

“I’m excited for everyone to come in as healthy as possible and as capable as possible this  Monday to get a reset and to get after it,” MacRae said.