Hawaii’s Kristian Titriyski spikes the ball against Long Beach State defenders in the NCAA men’s volleyball semifinal at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion on Saturday May 9, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Hawaii players celebrate their win against Long Beach State in the NCAA men’s volleyball semifinal at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion on Saturday May 9, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Hawaii players celebrate their win against Long Beach State in the NCAA men’s volleyball semifinal at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion on Saturday May 9, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Hawaii’s Louis Sakanoko digs for the ball against Long Beach State in the NCAA men’s volleyball semifinal at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion on Saturday May 9, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Hawaii’s Louis Skanoko spikes the ball against Long Beach State defenders in the NCAA men’s volleyball semifinal at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion on Saturday May 9, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Hawaii’s Louis Sakanoko has a kill against Long Beach State in the NCAA men’s volleyball semifinal at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion on Saturday May 9, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Long Beach State players celebrate a point in the NCAA men’s volleyball semifinal against Hawaii at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion on Saturday May 9, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Hawaii’s Trevell Jordan spikes the ball against Long Beach State defenders in the NCAA men’s volleyball semifinal at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion on Saturday May 9, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
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Hawaii’s Kristian Titriyski spikes the ball against Long Beach State defenders in the NCAA men’s volleyball semifinal at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion on Saturday May 9, 2026. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
LOS ANGELES — Third-seeded Long Beach State has missed out on its second straight NCAA men’s volleyball championship game after falling to second-seeded Hawai’i, 3-1 (15-25, 25-18, 21-25, 22-25) on Saturday night at Pauley Pavilion.
The Rainbow Warriors will play unseeded UC Irvine, which beat fourth-seeded Ball State in the championship game on Monday.
Skyler Varga led LBSU with 13 kills and hit .290. Gajek Wojciech had 11 kills and Jackson Cryst had a team-high four blocks. LBSU hit .200 as a team, which was its lowest hitting percentage since recording .193 against UCLA on Feb. 6.
Four Rainbow Warriors reached double digits in kills in Kristian Titriyski (14), Louis Sakanoko (12) and Adrien Roure (10). Justin Todd registered 10 blocks.
It was the fourth time this season that the two Big West Conference teams had met this season, most recently in the conference championship when LBSU went the distance for the title.
Long Beach State both hit and served uncharacteristically poorly in the first set on Saturday evening, finishing with a .120 hitting percentage to go with nine service errors. Hawai’i walked away with a 25-15 win on a block by Adrien Roure and Justin Todd.
The second set was a dramatic turnaround, and LBSU led for nearly the entirety of the frame to put it away 25-18 on a Hawai’i service error.
Tread Rosenthal jumped up for a solo block to cut Long Beach’s lead to 10-9. The teams traded service errors, then Connor Bloom’s kill from the left side pulled Long Beach ahead 13-11.
LBSU improved its hitting percentage to .273 by the end of the second set, and first team All-American Skyler Varga had upped his kill number to seven. But what gave LBSU its final push was a call reversal that came when head coach Nick MacRae challenged a ruling on a Bloom kill.
The reversal gave Long Beach a 21-18 lead and carried them to the win.
Hawaii resumed its dominance in the latter half of the third set. The score was knotted at 15-all when Long Beach committed a service error and allowed the Rainbow Warriors to gain a lead that it wouldn’t relinquish.
The Warriors scored in bunches, while unforced errors hurt Long Beach State. Jackson Cryst and Wojciech Gajeck had back-to-back kills to close the gap to 24-21, but Hawai’i claimed the set on LBSU’s 15th service error of the match.
The two Big West foes went point-for-point in the fourth and final set until Titriyski and Todd combined for a block that brought the score to 23-21 in Hawai’i’s favor. A kill by Roure set up match point, and Titriyski had the final scoring strike to send his team to the final.
Long Beach State was making its ninth semifinal appearance in the last 10 years and, heading into this year’s tournament, had reached the championship game in five out of the last seven tournaments.