VOLLEYBALL / NCAA MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP : Long Beach Ends Long Wait, Beats USC

Second-ranked Cal State Long Beach, which lost to USC in the NCAA men’s volleyball final a year ago, has finally gained its revenge.

“This is a dream come true,” said Long Beach Coach Ray Ratelle after his team beat the top-ranked Trojans, 15-11, 15-6, 8-15, 15-8, Saturday night.

“And I should know . . . I’ve been dreaming about this night for a long time.”

The victory before 2,857 at Blaisdell Arena not only gave Long Beach its first men’s title after four runner-up finishes, it avenged the defeat a year ago in the championship game when the 49ers lost to the Trojans in four games.

“It was poetic justice being able to do this,” 49er sophomore Brent Hilliard said.

“The preparation for this match began last year, after we lost to USC in the finals,” added senior blocker Brett Winslow, joining Hilliard on the all-tournament team along with teammates Jason Stimpfig, Alan Knipe and Matt Lyles, and USC’s Bryan Ivie.

“They kept saying that SC was on a mission to repeat. If so, we were on a silent mission to see that they didn’t.”

USC (34-2), seeking a fifth national title, was looking to become the first repeat champion since Pepperdine (1985-86). Instead, the Trojans, ranked No. 1 all season, finished with their fourth second-place trophy in seven years.

Ivie, two-time player of the year, finished his career with 33 kills and leaves as college volleyball’s all-time kill leader (2,380).

Long Beach (31-4) got 27 kills from Hilliard, 22 kills from Winslow and 20 from Lyles. It was the second consecutive year that the at-large team won the title.

In the third-place game, No. 8 Indiana-Purdue Ft. Wayne (19-9) capped its first national tournament appearance with a 9-15, 15-6, 15-3, 15-3 win over No. 3 Penn State. The Mastodons, got 16 kills from Tony Luhning and 15 from Fred Malcolm.

The Nittany Lions (28-6) got 14 kills from David Muir.