Long Beach State Rallies, Beats Hawaii in Five Games

When you’ve been there before, nothing seems insurmountable.

So when Hawaii tied Long Beach State, 2-2, with a victory in Game No. 4 of the Northwest Region semifinals Friday night, the exhausted 49ers knew they could dig deep enough to overcome the challenge.

And they did.

The defending national champions defeated their Big West Conference archrival, 15-10, in the decisive fifth game that ended with senior middle blocker Traci Dahl’s kill. The game capped an emotional 15-12, 12-15, 15-11, 11-15, 15-10 victory at Long Beach’s Gold Mine gymnasium.

Long Beach, which has never lost at home during the postseason, will play Ohio State--the region’s top-seeded team--at 7:30 tonight for the regional championship at the Gold Mine. The fourth-ranked Buckeyes defeated Pacific, 15-10, 10-15, 15-11, 15-4 in an earlier match Friday. Combined attendance for the two matches was 2,008.

The 49ers (27-5) had a 2-1 lead over Hawaii (25-5) after winning Game 3 with a boost from senior Nichelle Burton. The All-American outside hitter’s two consecutive blocks helped the 49ers take it, 15-11.

The match went to a deciding fifth game when Kee Williams’ block gave the Rainbow Wahine a 15-11 victory in Game No. 4. Long Beach tied the game, 11-11, on a kill by Dahl, but Williams sparked Hawaii with her powerful hitting. A kill by Williams, one of her five in the game, gave Hawaii a 13-11 lead.

Williams and Burton, the Big West Conference player of the year, entered the final game tied for the match lead in kills with 21. Dahl had 18 and the 49ers’ Brita Schwerm had 17.

The third game was tied, 8-8, but Long Beach outscored Hawaii, 7-3, down the stretch. Long Beach led, 12-8, after scoring four consecutive points.

Hawaii and Long Beach split their two conference matches during the regular season. Long Beach defeated Hawaii in the Northwest Regional final last season at the Gold Mine, 15-12, 15-7, 15-7.

The Rainbow Wahine tied Friday’s semifinal match, 1-1, in the second game.

Hawaii bounced back from a 4-0 deficit to win, 15-12, when a kill attempt by Burton hit the center of the net and fell on the 49ers’ side. Long Beach trailed, 13-7, at one point, and cut the lead to 13-10 on a kill by Schwerm, which could have provided a momentum shift. But Hawaii didn’t let up.

The first game featured three streaks. Long Beach had two, providing the difference.

Long Beach took 3-0 lead, but then Williams warmed up. Led by Williams, one of the strongest hitters in the nation, Hawaii raced to leads of 8-3 and 11-4.

Williams had six kills during the run and Hawaii seemingly had control of the game. But the 49ers stayed focused and slowly got back into the game thanks to Burton, Dahl and Schwerm.

Long Beach regained the lead, 13-12, on consecutive blocks by Dahl. A kill by Schwerm and a service ace by Burton gave the opener to the 49ers, 15-12.