COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Hawaii Sweeps Long Beach State

This probably won’t make the morning after any easier for Long Beach State, but Hawaii women’s volleyball Coach Dave Shoji said no opponent could have stopped his team Wednesday night.

And you know what? He’s probably right.

Especially considering the Wahine hadn’t accomplished such a feat against Long Beach State in five years. Wednesday night, Hawaii swept Long Beach State, the defending national champion, 15-10, 15-5, 16-14, in a Big West Conference match before 1,326 at The Gold Mine.

This is the first time Long Beach State, ranked eighth in the nation, had been swept by Hawaii since Sept. 9, 1989. Hawaii, sixth-ranked, also is the last team to sweep Long Beach State at home, earning that distinction on Oct. 4, 1988.

“That was the best volleyball we played all year,” Shoji said. “We played at a high level throughout the match.”

Hawaii’s Therese Crawford had a team-high 18 kills, followed by Angelica Ljungquist’s 17, including the match-ending kill in the third game. Traci Dahl led Long Beach State with 18 kills and Nichelle Burton contributed 14.

Hawaii’s victory also ended an 11-game losing streak against the 49ers. Moreover, Hawaii (21-3, 14-2 in conference play) regained the conference lead over Long Beach State (18-4, 13-2). The Wahine have two conference matches left with Santa Barbara and the 49ers have three, against Irvine, San Jose State and Pacific.

If tied at the season’s conclusion, Long Beach State and Hawaii would share the conference championship because they split the season series. Long Beach State defeated Hawaii on Tuesday in five games, 15-10, 15-7, 10-15, 7-15, 15-5.

Long Beach State appeared overwhelmed in the opening game Wednesday, trailing the Wahine, 11-0, at one point. But then the 49ers went on an equally impressive run.

A kill by Burton capped a 10-0 run and cut Hawaii’s previously commanding lead to one, 11-10. But the rally seemed to take a lot out of Long Beach State, and the Wahine closed strong, ending the game on Joselyn Robins’ kill.

In Golden State Athletic Conference men’s soccer:

Point Loma Nazarene 4, Concordia 0--Former Irvine Valley and Capistrano Valley High’s Jason Faulk knocked in two goals for Point Loma Nazarene (6-8-2, 4-5-1). Bonner Rinn had 20 saves for Concordia (4-14-1, 0-10).

Westmont 3, Southern California College 0--Jeremy Tyger scored two goals to lead visiting Westmont. Brent Rogers recorded eight saves for Southern California College (5-13-2, 3-7).

In men’s tennis:

ITA Southern California Regional--UC Irvine’s Lars Mohn, Joey Cabrera and Max Schlutz each lost qualifying matches in the first round at UC Irvine.

The Anteaters’ Chris Tontz, ranked 67th in the nation, is seeded seventh. Other UCI qualifiers include Julian Foxon, David Chang, Kenny Cruz, Marc-Andre Tardif and Carmen Lindee. Main draw play begins today.