HAWAII VS LONG BEACH STATE - NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE 2022 (05.07.22)

from the gulf coast to the west coast welcome live to espn's coverage of the 51st men's ncaa volleyball championships two rivals two very familiar foes long beach state their ninth appearance in the championship match won their first back in 1991 won in 2019 over their opponent tonight the rainbow warriors of the university of hawaii the defending national champions getting an aloha welcome to historic poly pavilion side of this year's championship the fourth time these two teams will meet this year the 16th time this championship has been in this esteemed building let's take a look and see how these teams got here and it was not easy long beach state trailed ucla two cents to none came storming back hang on and hung on and a nail biter winning at 16-14 ball state gave hawaii everything they wanted hawaii also coming back from a deficit two sets to one to win it and advance into the championship and here we are for the title hi everybody i'm paul sunderland welcome with my partner once again pepperdine all-american and two-time olympian kevin barnett the semifinals on thursday night were dramatic they were very very close but did the two best teams in the country this year advance for the championship the simple answer is yes they did i think in a wide open season these two teams have been the best it very easily could have been ucla ball state that would have been fine but the consistency of these two teams has been key all year they also have on the long beach side the best hitter in the country and on the hawaii side the best setter in the country let's take a look at the highlights from thursday night the semis lived up to everything particularly the matchup between the bruins and the beach this one was back and forth and by back and forth i mean the first two were all ucla 18 and 18. then long beach came storming back they passed at a higher level they served at a higher level and when you have this guy you have a chance alex nikolov was not only the freshman of the year he is also national player of the year and he played like it towards the end of this one eventually finishing with an exclamation point in a classic fifth set long beach absolutely took over the servant pass phase in the final three sets that's what got him into the championship once again ball state the number two seed out of the mi va they scared the heck out of hawaii come and be who you are walking that was the key 19 stuff blocks for the cardinal they were tremendous nobody knew what to make of these teams it met earlier on but kovit and injuries had a depleted hawaii team losing in muncie ball state was terrific but hawaii rounded out the same way they ground out the big west title against long beach a couple of weeks ago they ground this one out and managed a fantastic comeback 15 to 11 and hawaii and long beach will play for the title once again hawaii looking to go back-to-back you talked about the setting position here's the match-up coach's son he's had a terrific season a lot of weapons on that side jacob tell it watch him overhead in particular long distance to the opposite spot will be key he loves to throw it on the outside this is a matchup you want to keep an eye on these numbers are just in the previous three matches look at that production from alex nikolov a little window into why he is the national player of the year for spearo's hawkish 214 is pretty low that's only high enough after the final match played great if he plays well hawaii wins hawaii as a team hit only 241 against the block of ball state against a season average of 337 they will have to be much better of course in the attacking phase but this is a heavyweight fight i know that's a cliche but these two teams are among the best in virtually every phase of the game particularly offensively serving certainly a key each and every time out in men's college volleyball looking down these stats and normally you would see something go okay this is where it's going to be decided there's nothing in there to tell you how this is going to be decided no one knows what's going to happen on the court here it was a three-setter for the big west championship that could have been a five-setter long beach had set points in one and two it was deuce all the time this is gonna be a heavyweight fight as you said 27-25 25 23. three close sets again it could have gone either way a superlative match [Music] there is alan knight now in his 19th year at the beach some final instructions for his six foot three red shirt sophomore setting son aiden knight who injured his hand the other night there's a middle blocker shane holdaway six foot eight junior out of nearby huntington beach and there's charlie wade the co-coach of the year in the big west conference with the university of california irvine's david nippin and as mentioned the hawaii rainbow warriors at 26 and five on the year the defending ncaa champions having absolutely dismantled byu last year kevin we were there three sets to none but this is a very different hawaii team that hawaii team from last year graduated a lot of stars and they have stepped right in charlie's saying the three teams that have been in the finals are all different teams best three out of five sets for an ncaa champion simon torwy right off the bat he really helped to turn things around for long beach state on thursday night came in particularly at the beginning of the third set and dialed up a couple aces calling the tree six foot ten playing as big as a tree at this moment with that serve it is deadly it really was a big part of the comeback born in spain now representing germany playing for the german national team that's where long beach state found him one service winner and one over the end line i don't know if we're gonna have to consider a foreigner limit in ncaa volleyball the way they do in the professional leagues the developmental leagues across europe this last couple seasons we have seen a tremendous number of top talented foreigners jakubtilla among them from norway first team all-american the starting center as well for the norwegian national team and his serve is wicked nothing short of wicked first look at alexander alex nikolov six foot seven out of sophia bulgaria second generation player his father our national team stand out for a long time for bulgaria and you'll see him bring that hand back his very unusual hand position and then beats the heck out of the ball so strong for a freshman good sign for hawaii tella and guillermo voss did not connect very cleanly on thursday night that one was ripped out of the middle by the brazilian so boss has eaten up long beach in each of the previous two meetings they really don't have an answer other than trying to keep hawaii from being able to set quick 28 or 44 in the three meetings so far on the year nice swing over the top of the block cart clark godbold six foot five sophomore out of san pedro all big west conference first team you're gonna want to watch clark and his numbers throughout this he is the bellwether for this match for long beach we know nicolas is going to get his kills keep an eye on godbold [Applause] that's going to be illegally played by hawaii you can chase the ball on your opponent's side there's an imaginary center line but the ball has to go outside the antenna and then back outside to keep it in play and then another [Applause] the first ever freshman to be the national player of the year that's how good this kid is from behind that ball through the block that's down no question that that ball is down demetrius mookley a six foot six redshirt sophomore out of greece and there's a big argument to be made paul that player of the year should have gone to jacob tell it best center he makes this team run they have no singular weapon he is the guy who's going to be determining the strategy and dishing throughout as he goes that team goes there is lost already with an early kill second team all-american that ball right on top of the net and aidan knife is in the back row participated in a blocking attempt above the net so that's a violation and a point to hawaii tied at four best three out of five sets first four sets to 25 points 15 point tiebreaker which was in both semi-finals on thursday night goes to 15. we were here for a while we might be again tonight that was way past my bedtime so here's the thing about godbold who got that kill there through two sets god bold 048 on thursday evening [Applause] so then he gets a pardon me god bold last time they met oh 48 in hawaii excuse me on that but god bolt through two sets had three kills the other night he came back three or four in the third four or four in the fourth they finished 11 and 16 with no errors they need him hold away middle blocker for the beach [Music] [Applause] galloway a little campfire defense by long beach state that roll shot should have come up yeah keeping on galloway's numbers they have had galloway pretty well bottled up in each of the previous meetings have the beach on thursday night in their semi-final galloway was 10 of 27 six foot three sophomore out of san diego hit 338 last year bothered by an injured ankle most of this season his numbers way down off the edge of the block and down galloway flying high this is going to be really good for the beach if chaz galloway can get going keep giving direction and working off the long beach block as he does there you mentioned his numbers they have not been great really good digging across court that time by the liberal brett sheward six foot two sophomore at a newport beach oh what a delivery and a dig that time beautiful dig by mason briggs welcome to our continuing coverage we were on the app now on espn news we're bouncing around and balls are bouncing around paulie pavilion long beach state taking on the hawaii rainbow warriors for the 51st ncaa championship with my partner two-time olympian and pepperdine all-american kevin barnett on paul sunderland there's god bold again he's got a really live arm tied at six [Music] big combination and a huge block really nice move that time on the block cole hoagland who has transitioned from being an opposite into an undersized middle blocker and he waited that time too he knows that they like to go to that big attack he definitely made a fantastic read there aiden knight the less he can go to nicolov early in this match the better galloway back to serve only eight aces so far on the year pretty easy one there handled very comfortably by nicolas the first kill by number 31 spencer olivier six foot six redshirt junior out of tustin california honorable mention all-american this year there's the series history these teams out of the same conference used to be in the mpsf now the mpsf and the uh big west have gone their separate ways looking for back-to-back national championships their fourth ever appearance playing for the title now that's a good thing big west has proven to be a strong conference i think this year arguably the strongest conference you throw santa barbara in right behind him who had wins over other national contenders throughout and you can say those three teams alone carry that conference but i thought at the end of the year the mpsf also played well stanford peaked at just the right time ucla could have easily been in this match 16-14 again against long beach state on thursday night pepperdine also played great spiros hawkish with a really good kill he is a superb passer for hawaii alex nikolov over the top of the block and long beach state and hawaii as expected in a very tight early battle for the 51st ncaa championship welcome inside poly pavilion the 16th time this historic facility has hosted the national championship we're bouncing around first on the app then on news now on espn2 thanks so much for joining us [Applause] back to serve once again the man who started it off with an a simon torwy six foot ten stoutly built long beach state staff found him oh on the line again nick mccray who's the associate head coach for long beach state was coaching the usa men's junior team they played germany at the world juniors and they found simon torwy and maybe found somebody who's going to get him across the finish line he was huge on thursday night so many of these international connections on both sides have come from national team action nearly a foot fault and it was a footfall that's a good call good work by the linesman yeah we throwing the ball a little too far out in front of him but he has been a weapon thus far he's seen him get an ace in each of his first two serves there's charlie wade in his 13th year once again the defending national champions he was co-coach of the year in the big west conference it was jacob [Applause] oh nice block by hawaii working on godbold and getting it done on the outside people generally don't think of hawaii as a great blocking team this year they have been one of the best for the elite teams in the nation part of it has to do with the service putting people in trouble all the time till it breaking multiple records in the service game both in conference and also in hawaii history 59 aces on the year against 52 errors unheard of kind of numbers but uncharacteristically he had a whole bunch of errors on thursday he typically is quite consistent not only is he getting aces but they're scoring in that rotation nikoloff already with his third kill both teams solid offensively particularly hawaii five of six no errors hitting eight thirty three maiden knife once again back to serve [Music] oh that's trouble smartly done good save that time by hawkish good block deflection [Applause] nicholas ripping into the cross court and doug but just over the sideline and there are there are players who hit the ball fast he hits the ball heavy and hard it's not predicated on speed you can go ahead and put a two or three-man block up in front of number 23. it's not going to matter he has the tools to defeat it [Applause] beautiful set that time by tele by contrast the other side they have gone a little bit slower but they are predicated on speed and deception tele delivering the ball on point on pace to keep his smaller outside and opposite at about six foot four with one to one and a half people in front of them on the block there is hawkish again the six foot four sophomore second team all-american also out of greece good pass by olivier nice little backhand flipper who says my hand is hurt aidan knight went into the scores table chasing down a ball got angry and frustrated slapped it and cut his hand wide open in the fifth set against ucla yeah that thing is the cheese grater you don't want to mess with it you do not want to be a piece of cheddar for it he's taking a lot of grief has aided night for his setting that was a beauty an errant toss a lot of people might not know in tennis you see players toss it and catch it toss it and catch it and of course apologize in volleyball you're in control you toss it you got to hit it it didn't used to be that way it seems to be you can let a toss go and you know who would do it the most the most egregious abuse of that particular thing you've all kotz of hawaii the left-hander from israel back in the middle 90s he would take the ball and just throw it as high as he could and not even go after it and then come back for another swing that grow serving specialist number 25 akana six foot five richard jr out of honolulu and to serve and does a nice job oh that's a smart shot recycle the point and the tip goes down god boy gets the kill here but it's manufactured by the smarts of nickelodeon i think that's where he is beyond his years being a second generation player having the european experience the amount of volleyball he's been able to play is higher than that of juniors here and you see it in off plays tips rolls the way he handles bad situations and cleans up previous poor contacts there is middle blocker hold away once again had a nice match on thursday night six of seven in the semi-finals against ucla out of system oh that's a good rip jazz galloway showing no ill effects after playing with a pretty severely sprained ankle most of the year he is really a high flyer yeah galloway comes in in the tournament hitting 0.75 the more he can play like he's played in this first set and i don't mean just the kills he's getting the attitude the swinging high hard with confidence don't start overthinking plays take big smart cuts talked about international experience nucleus represented greece in the european championships last year at the senior level [Applause] tied at 13. galloway again nice dig that time by the libro briggs you have to convert these these are the kind of contacts here that win championships right side over the top of the block by number 11 demetrius you get a free ball it has to be a kill 70 80 of the time do something to put pressure on the other team every time they make a mistake you have to manufacture a point in system perfect free ball pass and you see the pressure that it puts on the block and defense nucleus again [Applause] and that ball just over the sideline tied at 14. this is looking a lot like the big west championship thus far paul it was a battle back and forth a little bit of a push from hawaii two three points long beach would come back we haven't even seen that much separation of the media timeout after this point it comes at 15 if nobody has called a timeout [Music] joust coming nice slam dink that time over the top of the block by hoagland and at the media timeout here at paulie pavilion side of the 51st ncaa men's volleyball championship hawaii for the 15-14 league [Applause] now it's going to be fourth set point lmu cape privet now walking like a woman on a mission trying to come back in the second set [Music] that goes wide and it didn't get a piece of the block wow a fifth set point florida state on a roll but on the side change florida state switches to the bad side wind at their back when way less of a factor than it was earlier in the day it has died down it's also not significantly hot today warm outside but not like it has been [Applause] finally crushed to valma pretty on the fifth set point and we are gonna have a third set at the threes now we want to pay attention right now to the fives because florida state won the first set they're up in the second set this was the last point that just happened between these two [Applause] a big-time rally raphael ramirez facing moon and white caitlin moon would finish it that would lead to a timeout after that point with florida state leading by two and they're back up on the sand these pairs are battling such inspired defense and no easy balls dropping that's for sure [Applause] you got a battle right now because your season is on the line service error makes it a three-point lead florida state winner will get ucla tomorrow at 12 30 eastern in our semi-final our second semi-final usc is already in the championship duel [Applause] oh a tough error there for jacinda ramirez yeah cinda ramirez for lmu she needs to stay aggressive she was just going to drop a little short shot but you always want to jump hard on your approach your approach should look the same whether you're going to shoot it or jump [Applause] backing it you can see the excitement on caitlyn moon's face the fives are two points away from the semi-final [Applause] [Music] point knowles katelyn moon aggressive at the net raylynn white tough from the service line jacinda ramirez needs to stay aggressive she's getting blocked when she's shooting this fives pair looking for their first win in this tournament [Applause] florida state go on to the semis what a performance by caitlin moon and raylynn white handing this lmu pair their first loss of the tournament wow an lmu is eliminated florida state will live to play another day they will be in the semifinal against ucla tomorrow at 12 30 eastern here on espn2 the championship duel will be tomorrow at 4 eastern we can't wait to get back to the beach with you tomorrow but for now let's get you to the men's indoor national championship that's coming up right now [Music] over the top of the block and long beach state and hawaii as expected in a very tight early battle for the 51st ncaa championship welcome inside polly pavilion the 16th time this historic facility has hosted the national championship we're bouncing around first on the app then on news now on espn2 thanks so much for joining us back to serve once again the man who started it off with an a simon torwy six foot ten stoutly built long beach state staff found him oh on the line again nick mcrae who's the associate head coach for long beach state was coaching the usa men's junior team they played germany at the world juniors and they found simon torwy and maybe found somebody who's going to get him across the finish line he was huge on thursday night so many of these international connections on both sides have come from national team action nearly a foot fault and it was a footfall that's a good call good work by the lines man yeah terry throwing the ball a little too far out in front of him but he has been a weapon thus far he's seen him get an ace in each of his first two serves there's charlie wade in his 13th year once again the defending national champions he was co-coach of the year in the big west conference it was jacob [Applause] oh nice block by hawaii working on god bold and getting it done on the outside people generally don't think of hawaii as a great blocking team this year they have been one of the best for the elite teams in the nation part of it has to do with the service putting people in trouble all the time tillett breaking multiple records in the service game both in conference and also in hawaii history 59 aces on the year against 52 errors unheard of kind of numbers but uncharacteristically he had a whole bunch of errors on thursday he typically is quite consistent not only is he eating aces but they're scoring in that rotation nickeloff already with his third kill both teams solid offensively particularly hawaii five of six no errors hitting eight thirty three aiden knife once again back to serve [Music] oh that's trouble smartly done good save that time by hawkish good block deflection [Applause] nicholas ripping into the cross court and doug but just over the sideline and there are there are players who hit the ball fast he hits the ball heavy and hard it's not predicated on speed you can go ahead and put a two or three-man block up in front of number 23 it's not going to matter he has the tools to defeat it misdirection beautiful set that time by tele by contrast the other side they have gone a little bit slower but they are predicated on speed and deception tele delivering the ball on point on pace to keep his smaller outside and opposite at about six foot four with one to one and a half people in front of him on the block there is hawkish again the six foot four sophomore second team all-american also out of greece good pass by olivier nice little backhand flipper who says my hand is hurt aidan knight went into the scorers table chasing down a ball got angry and frustrated slapped it and cut his hand wide open in the fifth set against ucla yeah that thing is the cheese grater you don't want to mess with it you do not want to be a piece of cheddar for it he's taking a lot of grief has aided night for his setting that was a beauty an errant toss a lot of people might not know in tennis you see players toss it and catch it toss it and catch it and of course apologize in volleyball you're in control you toss it you gotta hit it it didn't used to be that way it used to be you could let it go you know who would do it the most the most egregious abuse of that particular thing yuval kotz of hawaii the left-hander from israel back in the middle 90s he would take the ball and just throw it as high as he could and not even go after it and then come back for another swing that grow serving specialist number 25 akana six foot five richard jr out of honolulu and to serve and does a nice job oh that's a smart shot recycle the point and the tip goes down god boy gets the kill here but it's manufactured by the smarts of nikola but i think that's where he is beyond his years being a second generation player having the european experience the amount of volleyball he's been able to play is higher than that of juniors here and you see it in off plays tips rolls the way he handles bad situations and cleans up previous poor contacts where his middle blocker hold away once again had a nice match on thursday night six of seven in the semifinals against ucla out of system well it's a good rep jazz galloway showing no ill effects after playing with a pretty severely sprained ankle most of the year he is really a high flyer yeah and galloway comes in in the tournament hitting 0.75 the more he can play like he's played in this first set and i don't mean just the kills he's getting the attitude the swinging high hard with confidence don't start overthinking plays take big smart cuts talked about international experience nucleus represented greece in the european championships last year at the senior level [Applause] tied at 13. galloway again nice dig that time by the libro briggs you have to convert these these are the kind of contacts here that win championships right side over the top of the block by number 11 demetrius when you get a free ball it has to be a kill 70 80 of the time do something to put pressure on the other team every time they make a mistake you have to manufacture a point in system perfect free ball pass and you see the pressure that it puts on the block and defense nucleus again [Applause] and that ball just over the sideline tied at 14. this is looking a lot like the big west championship thus far paul it was a battle back and forth a little bit of a push from hawaii two three points long beach would come back we haven't even seen that much separation of the media timeout after this point it comes at 15 if nobody has called a timeout [Applause] [Music] just coming nice slam dink that time over the top of the block by hoagland and at the media timeout here at paulie pavilion side of the 51st ncaa men's volleyball championship hawaii for the 15-14 league [Applause] everything is that is disappearing danger hey quilt this thing is so broken [Music] uh quill you seeing this well well you heard the lady get the epcot it saved the galaxy time again [Music] the only way you're ever gonna know what you're made of is by heading into the big wild raging so damn beautiful it hurts world and finding out for yourself were you born to follow a path or were you born free the new grand cherokee made for what you're made of shop and buy online with jeep eshop where right now get zero percent financing on all 2022 jeep grand cherokee wk models plus three years no cost maintenance with the jeepwave program the two best teams in the nation meeting in the championship inside paulie pavilion let's look at some key players in this one the setting position aiden knife coach's son has had a terrific season jacob tell a best setter in the ncaa you've already seen that long distance set to the right you're gonna get that a lot these numbers here for nikolov and hawkis are in the previous three matchups you see the production from nikolov i wouldn't expect hawaii to shut him down but i would expect hakus to play far above these numbers he had two really rough matches one terrific match in that big west 3-0 win for hawaii we talked about the servant serve and received phase for long beach state turning things around for hawaii hakas was the best passer in the semifinal 77 good or perfect that's a wonderful number [Applause] smart high flat shot number 23. there is huckas right on cue in the regular season meetings nucleus negative hawkish a hundred in that big west championship nucleus 16 kills 267 pretty pedestrian 267 but you'll take the 16 kills hawk has 16 kills 483 hawaii goes with greece their three wing attackers if you will are all putting up baby being hawaii are putting up really good numbers nice block hawkish participating in the block and helping hoagland yeah timeout long beach state needed a timeout but speaking of galloway three of four hawkish 304 nucleus two of five and no errors among any of them the nba playoffs they do indeed roll on tomorrow with game four the western conference semi-finals between the phoenix suns and the dallas mavericks on espn and on the espn app with dallas looking to even the series at two games apiece coverage begins at three eastern with a countdown crew are you a luca doncic fan oh yeah oh man he is unbelievable and chris paul is having a fantastic season and playoff run at the age of 37 spitting in the face of father tom yeah they're going to need devin booker to stay healthy yeah no question but he's come back from that hamstring so he's been playing well that's going to be a heck of a series but i think dallas really needs that game tomorrow that's at three o'clock here's the scoring run by hawaii five to one over long beach state once again the fourth meeting this year long beach state won both in the big west conference regular season meetings at the pyramid three sets to one and then hawaii returned the favor the big west conference tournament championship jam-packed stan sheriff center in honolulu three sets to none but they were all deuce helen knight in his 19th year coached the u.s olympic team in 2012 in london hawaii's gotten away here because they've converted easy points they've taken some pretty good high swings in transition let's see if they can keep doing that long beach has been up in front of them most times just not getting the ball to bounce their way [Applause] jazz's serve has been off as well [Applause] that ball is drifting back off the net olivier that balls to the floor the linesman jumped right in a little bit of a late call but the right call with number 31 spencer olivier i'm going to almost jump backwards but he put this ball away yeah this was fortunate that's a bad set in two ways number one it's outside the antenna number two it's off the net i'll take it the other way low and tight would be better than hyde outside nathan harland six foot four sophomore out of ladera renwich california 12 aces on the year good pass by schuard back row combination that ball missed out of bounds by galloway pretty open net nice combination play shades of the ball state match open net misses for hawaii now he just sliced it off he knows that middle blocker is there and he just didn't get enough over the top got too much around the side of the ball with his right hand good response by the beach coming out of the timeout [Applause] he's left-handed when he was playing first for norway as an 18 or 19 year old he was in a 6-2 system and to explain that means two setters everybody hits including jacob telly now he's a 5-1 setter for norway hey you know you can do it from the service line and he's 30 feet away you put him at the net just as deadly really fun to watch a complete center and also his offensive weapon keoni them six foot sophomore out of honolulu this kid is a high flyer with a live arm [Applause] [Music] [Applause] that's a bad choice nickeloff wasn't ready he was ready this time what you're watching is an international level arm in ncaa volleyball [Applause] [Music] the pace and the direction are what set him apart alex nikolov just turned 18 on november 30th wearing number 23 4.6 kills per set third in the nation hit 386 and led the country in aces per se enjoy him while he's here i would be shocked if he's here in two years i think the money's just gonna get too big [Applause] oh good set [Applause] after a reasonably slow series against long beach state is having a wonderful start number 23 in the black jersey for the rainbow warriors we talked to mckay smith assistant coach for long beach and he said one thing that they did in that victory in the big west hawaii was that they slowed the offense down just a little bit for hawkish and nucleus and it worked well here we have a high ball situation and haggis just gets up and takes a good cut through the top of the block another ace a lucky one this time for hawaii and jacob tella that's their fourth ace so far in the opening set i told you he had a live arm and could really jump he could also he can also cheer on his all-american center timeout second timeout called by long beach state thing is with tela if you don't have this in your gym you don't see it coming from your right to your left a hard driven ball from a lefty with heat and spin it's hard to prepare for second time these teams are playing the championship in recent history 2019 at the pyramid long beach state wins it three sets to one this was a heck of a match as well yeah and as you mentioned when we were talking to charlie wade a completely different team in terms of the hawaii side he said the guys who are here now were in the gym but they were not starting you have to be prepared to come and work to start but this was in the middle of long beach being an absolute terror with their big three to aniga and singh and defalco all of whom have made an impact on the national team and a couple of them went to the olympic games this last summer kyle insing was the backup opposite to matt anderson and tj defalco had a superb olympic games absolutely a lot of focus and pressure on that young man and he played beautiful volleyball throughout the course of the entire tournament which was a big disappointment for the united states long beach has a wonderful history of olympians coming out of this program and making an impact internationally winning medals i've got the list we were talking about it we'll get to it i won't tease that up right now this is a crucial juncture for long beach state to try to make a little mini run to get back in this opening set if i'll tell it i don't care coming out of the timeout i light it up right now go for it he's so efficient i haven't seen numbers like this 60 aces and 53 errors on the season that's a big swing by number 12. six foot five sophomore clark got bold 11 of 16 the other night after a slow start and he had been handled pretty well by hawaii throughout the course of their series but he's capable and knife needs to keep him involved he's four of eight so far [Applause] how do you not come out to nickeloff wonderful block but how do you not set number 23 well like i said i i think the more they go away from them the better i think you have to give god both swings you have to keep stretching out hawaii they get them this time but you can't just be a one-man show as good as that one-man show really is i agree with you but not in 2018. i agree with you we can get a little time i think we're going to be here for a while look at that pass missed out of bounds the connection not there a tough chance for aiden knight remember long beach is out of timeouts charlie wade we talked to him yesterday he said it's not just about the aces they've been good at that it is about the constant pressure you mentioned tell his ace to error ratio that's part of it he's a huge part of the other team the other side and the other guy has done a great job that [Applause] he's gonna have to rip off a couple here for long beach to get back in this one remember number one in the nation in aces per se [Applause] overpass gotta have it oh and that ball just out of bounds a huge break for the beach and now a time out called by hawaii overpass was right there hammered by olivier but dug back very nicely by hawaii to keep the ball off the floor but missed that shot just out of bounds the timing of that timeout shows you how much charlie wade and his staff know the capability of long beach to run off points in a particular rotation with nikolov at the line as one of the good ones they call a very preemptive timeout here still elite at two gave up one point long beach 21-5 on the year they won the regular season in the midwest and alexander nicolas the six foot six freshman out of sophia bulgaria everybody knew and charlie wade the hawaii coach told us yesterday in practice we're going to see a lot of number 23. yeah just how lopsided has it been he has 200 more attempts than the next guy he has 500 points the next guy has a little over 300 points it's ridiculous he hit 385 this year that's a really nice number ellen knight made a really interesting point about last year when the season was short because of kovid and the college teams in the united states didn't even start practice until february right well alexander was in sofia bulgaria training with the youth national team every day alan knight said he may have just turned 18 but he might be with all of the under 19 and under 21 and world junior championship jeff matches our most experienced player he's already shown that he made a point about the international experience on a soft touch to recycle the point earlier on 22-20 opening set 3 out of five at poly pavilion in los angeles for the national championship good pass by galloway back row quick combination spiros once again i like the choice to go down the middle of the court because the scouting report says this ball goes to the right side and it has already early on but tell it will change it up he's very good at responding mid-set and mid-match to what the other team is doing or what's working for hawaii his in-game adjustments are critical for the success of that side thursday night against ucla right now hawaii is out passing long beach state against ucla hawaii was 65 good or perfect we'll update you the numbers on what both of these teams are passing so far in this championship match [Music] nickeloff with seven kills god bowled with four long beach state hitting 333 hawaii hitting 440. calvin sanborn out of santa cruz california on desert [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] combination out of the middle really good contact cole hoagland we're at number seven in black with a kill and it's now three set points for hawaii keep utilizing in the middle [Applause] set point number one [Applause] quick combination right back at you but still set points for hawaii [Applause] [Music] [Applause] back row quick combination on the pick after once again a nearly perfect reception by hawaii one little mid-set push of points ends up being the difference in a very even first set for the fourth time these two teams are getting together this time for the championship and it's hawaii taking the opening set 25-22 expectations come with the territory but raising expectations that comes with determining back once again to espn's coverage of the ncaa men's volleyball championship hawaii the rainbow warriors the defending champs take the opening set 25-22 and when they take the opening set life has been pretty good pretty aloha here 48 out of 50. with two-time olympian pepperdine all-american kevin barnett i'm paul sunderland your thoughts on the opening set what was the key for the push and the separation for hawaii to pull away and take out long beach state they converted an easy free ball right in the middle of that they took advantage of those opportunities and you saw the big swings both from galloway as well as hawkish against the three-man block in transition they swung with confidence they put the ball high and they got the bounces good things happen when you take huge high swings against a well-formed block bad stuff happens when you try and go low seam against the well four blocks so i credit the hawaii hitters for what they did in transition also tell it switching up the tempo going overhead long early late in that set you saw him going right down the middle of the court and really going against the flow of what he had been doing earlier in the set he's keeping the long beach block off balance jazz galloway who was struggling hitting only 0.75 through a couple of matches here at paulie pavilion very nice in the opening said he was three of five but hawkis six of 13 but as you pointed out in the setting match-up jacob tella is just the best in the business right now in college volleyball [Applause] great for long beach state vausha to put that ball away boss didn't know what to do because it got on him too quick normally you have a little more time with that overpass but that thing was dug right back at him and if anything could have let it go right over his head but it's tough as an aggressive net player you want to put that thing away immediately win the point for your side i'm with him i probably would have jumped up same thing swatted it with the paintbrush when nicolas is one on one that's just not a fair fight it's over where's torwy started this match off with an ace and he's got another four aces against ucla all of those coming in the third fourth and fifth set yeah he's got three in this one i think now waiting for the stats to update a little bit it's been his first serve of each time he goes back this is your moment to shine as a hitter it's all you [Applause] good stab god bold can't quite get there running out of real estate really good swing off the left side once again by number 11 in black nucleus i was really concerned for park right there i thought he was going to end up off the surface into the stairs of the bleachers he gave it everything he had here wow that was close [Music] yeah godbolt was one of the premier junior players for three years played with your son long beach correct played for scbc and really had a tremendous run they won at 17's they were the best team in eight teams when the whole world shut down didn't get a chance to repeat that title after this point we'll give you some of the key numbers from the opening set why are you pulling your hands down against nicola i know why because nicola will go high flat he has that a lot of guys when they come as a freshman to college volleyball they don't have the high flat but this guy does so that's in your report says if he's tight like that he'll just hit the ball and aim for the second level of paulie pavilion you take your chances once in a while he slaps it down over the top here we saw an awful lot of that at the olympics because the challenge system is so incredibly refined at the olympic level challenge system speaking of that is an effect of course in this championship men's college volleyball each team starts with three challenges you can challenge ball in or out a touch off a player a net violation yeah here with that ball being tight the follow through is the question and did nikolov rake his right hand down the net that's the way it was called that would be a net violation one of the things that can be challenged also foot fault on the service line foot fault on the three meter line ball up or down on the pancake and also four contacts and if you are correct in your challenge you basically have an infinite number as long as you're right you just keep on going second referee keith murlis is the first referee [Applause] [Music] you see keith talking right now they're wearing a headset and an earpiece and so they're communicating and the net violation was called against [Music] nucleus that's good work by the officials and i like the system where you keep your challenge you should not be at the mercy of the referees if they're having a bad day if you're somehow out of challenges if the officials make a mistake and it happens you should not be penalized for correcting it but they've made that change also on the women's side galloway looking to go high flat and missed that one out of bounds and a good response from the beach now leading 4-1 in the second [Music] talked about some of the numbers as aidan knight goes back to serve in the opening set hawaii hit 464. a really good number for long beach state 355. hawaii was a much better serving team olivier there number 31 with a near dig but the connection between della two returning starters already have a championship ring from last year they're connecting nicely tonight yeah a couple of those pieces that are left and what boss will do is he'll jump you see him there jump to his left so he will fade away from the center that undoubtedly has made the long beach scouting report but vaughn's there showing a little bit of range going back the other way he will pop one way and jump the other you saw the united states do that in the summer if you were watching the olympic tournament from tokyo speaking of international experience and we have guillerme vos out of brazil was voted the best middle blocker at the under 21 world championships there is a lot of talent out here and hawaii has a tradition of recruiting international players for a long long time and they've continued that for their starters from outside the united states yeah in fact it actually cost them when people said they won their first title last year that was not the first title they actually won on the court they had their 2002 title yeah because of an eligible player a greek player nice chop back out of the middle by shane hold away again with six of seven neither of the middles are very involved in long beach state's offense in terms of volume well he can't be and hold away does a nice job with that ball that ball is too low and he kind of drops his elbow and pushes it you saw him earlier missed one he got enough of it that time hitting 479 on the year that is a sky-high number here comes nicole off again for hawaii doing an outstanding job he had 16 digs in hawaii semi-final win over ucla brett sheward the six foot two sophomore out of nearby newport beach [Applause] both liberals outstanding first team all-american mason briggs and the gold colored jersey wearing number three for long beach state he had 20 digs the other night i really like the idea for muglius to cut the ball there there was lots of room for that to be done but if you make just the slightest error put the ball a little too deep briggs will be on it not bold now five kills on ten swings for the match long beach state hitting 417. yeah i keep going to godbold i keep feeding paul even though i lost that first set lost that point around 20 you and i were talking about you have to have some balance you can't be totally out of balance and expect it you're gonna have one guy defeat a team like hawaii you can get by with some other other matches other teams just feed one dude and he's led in all but three matches he has either had a share of or the entire lead nikolov offensively and kills but you'd like that not to happen here i think if you could get that where he and godbold are about the same that's gonna be a long beach victory the serving phase has been pretty clean so far on the night both teams applying pressure both teams scoring a couple of aces and not a lot of misses what a concept serving hard and serve an end [Applause] that's got to go agreed by briggs and knowing where you are on the court once again the first team all-american libro making a smart play and then knowing where you are on the floor number three in the gold jersey [Applause] long beach dropped the opening set 25-22 a nice response good pass that's an unforced error so a couple of miscues for hawaii they need a timeout here yes hey we're listening we're gonna have our first time out of the second set so long beach comes out quickly in this second set on a three-nothing run 9-4 lead at the timeout well long beach is known at the beach as the beach but this is nearby venice the santa monica pier about six miles from here as the crow flies we're in westwood home of ucla and historic poly pavilion hosting this championship for the 16th time the first time was in 1970 ucla defeating long beach state six miles but 45 minutes paul it took me a little longer than that to get here [Applause] we don't measure in distance in la we measure in time coming out of the timeout oh smart shot very nicely done by spirozakus [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oglen had a good semi-final on thursday against ball state once again five set win he was six of nine with only one error high flat swing by olivier very nicely done by number 31. all year long it's been the three pins who have started each match and olivier has had a really nice season hitting well into the mid 300s on the year the one fault in his game has been his service eight aces how many errors paul ford 48 that is unacceptable but a nice big block and i walk away i like the little attitude there by boss but that's the one hole in his game olivier he's second in digs he's hitting in the mid 300s carrying an offensive load so he's got some improvement he still has an upside in him and i like that for olivier but he's got to work on that in the summer eight aces against 48 errors is just a tremendous deficit and the exact opposite 60 aces and 53 errors on the season for jacob first team all-american setter [Applause] what do you think caused that mistake by nicolas well the trainer lebron a little tempo to him you see him hit a high ball more of the time this one was designed to be more of a go over the top and the timing's just not there alan knife in his 19th year head coach at long beach state telling his team to slow it down and in the post-match press conference about ucla he said that was one of the keys we were just moving way too fast in those first two sets against the bruins ace served by tella for all his experience we've talked about is still a young player as a receiver and when you can get to him you can destabilize the rest of his game tele is the right guy to get to him now that he hit it off him and out of bounds i would cut the next ball from the line tell his got enough control he should be able to cut it to about 12 feet within about three foot of this sideline from his perspective the right hand sideline right in front of nikolov you back him up then you cut him forward and you back him up and you cut him forward you play short deep with the receiver now that we've got a timeout let's take a quick look at the capital one cup standings and update as teams compete for a combined four hundred thousand 000 scholarship donation from capital one national champions georgia bulldogs clemson kansas north dakota state michigan cal there as well there you see the list on the women's side wisconsin congratulations on winning their first ever national championship over nebraska in in one of the classic five set matches in college volleyball you want to tie in here for capital one in this match jeremy brandt the pa announcer here ucla alumni of the program is the capital one guy that's whose voice is carrying the arena right now well they're just very involved in collegiate sports and we appreciate it three nothing earlier in the set long beach went on a three-nothing run to force a time out by the rainbow warriors and then coming out of that timeout a very nice response by hawaii at 26-5 on the year and now long beach trailing one set to none the number one overall seed i'm cutting nikolov all day still serving foreign you've seen him before [Applause] i would cut it to the right top of your screen right in front of 23. [Applause] [Music] away from nickeloff out of the timeout and another error four straight points for hawaii heat and consistency are a deadly combination from the service line because right now all you want if you're long beach is an error you want the ball out of bounds you want the ball on the net take a deep breath and move back and try and recapture the momentum that you had earlier [Applause] [Music] [Applause] what a cover great read by briggs the libra callaway with the chase [Applause] what a play on both sides watch briggs run up underneath this one he's just looking at the block you don't watch your own hitter you got to watch the surface where the ball is going to come off of he lifts that one up and gives long beach a shot here galloway going into the benches saves it for the eventual hawaii point awesome long beach an errant free ball pass trapped aiden knight at the net that caused hawaii to have an opportunity keeps telling the line [Applause] hawaii needs to make an adjustment with their block nikolov has not hit one ball down the line on a high off situation he's everything in the angle in fact sharp in many cases that's a pretty nice high swing into the angle you're not gonna get it but move your block in about a foot you have a lot better chance at either a good touch or a straight down house give up the line the house yeah big house 11 kills on 20 swings so i have a question they have the manoa roofing company yes i want to know who the first roofing company was because the first one i remember is the malibu roofing company and pepperdine but i don't know if somebody knows of a previous roofing company in the sport of volleyball i'm sure someone will reach out to you al skates would have the answer is having a really nice match so far back to serve [Applause] slam dink down the line and i agree with you they're playing with more tempo and i'm not sure it's so clean so far it's tough to do it's easier if you have talented controls aiden knight remember when his dad his younger brother evan mother jennifer i remember when alan knife was coaching the 2012 team they were just little groms and that's how they got involved in the game nice shot through the block and down by chaz galloway yeah the best play on that was the second contact this set here that bump set overhead ends up being perfect for galloway to take a big cut that is all credit to the bump set overhead galloway having a busy night so far relative to what he's done for the previous two matches four of eight hawaii hitting 390 so far in the match 341 for long beach state [Applause] nice play hold away out of the middle of the perfect reception [Applause] the way doing a nice job locating himself relative to that ball you have to locate relative to the center in that case and jump up right next to him and a nice delivery from knife [Applause] oh that's a good swing off the edge nucleus number 11 with the wrist away watch where this ball impacts the block it's up in olivier's fingertips it's right off the side of his hand but at the the fingertip level that's what you have to do when i say high and hard that's where you're hitting the ball not down inside the forearms and the elbows nucleus now four of nine [Music] [Applause] both libros are playing at such a high level olivier looking for hands touched down the line not there may be a challenge remember both teams have their full allotment but coach knight is not going to go to the challenge card here briggs is doing a good job of just manufacturing something out of nothing these are incredibly hard serves and i think with a lesser passer in some of these spots when they're hitting brakes it would be an ace but briggs has at least given the beach a shot [Music] service error there we're tied at 14. second set hawaii won the opening set 25-22 long beach state came out led eight to four time out by hawaii they won on a three nothing then a four nothing run and now tied at 14. looking at the official stats they only have two aces to the rim of warriors but they have only three errors a lot a lot of pressure and bad passes out of those they're not getting the aces but they're certainly keeping the screws to long beach [Applause] dug by nikola but that's going to be wiped out by a net violation probably on torwey number 11 in white back to the servant receiving the efficiency for galloway in hawaii in the first two sets which ucla dominated on thursday night [Applause] long beach just didn't pass the ball at all well enough they got a six times nine errors and they completely flipped the script as did hawaii and galloway against ball state i give a lot of credit to ucla for that they were coming from the service line in those first two and then it kind of got away from him and even in the fifth there were some unconfident attempts from the line perfect pass nickel off on the back row put the vic why is that particular play so difficult to defend because you have the quick coming right at you and you're not sure what to do you see the middle weight there i mean this is a good read from the middle position from cole hoagland but you can't be all alone against nicolas and hoagland is an undersized middle blocker at six foot four oh what a play by tele he's been an opposite he's been a 6-2 setter he's got a rocket left arm you've seen it from the service line and he's got the right attitude too where he's going along the net he believes in it he's as much of a weapon as anybody him back on [Applause] nice play on the overpass credit to the server and also vos for the two-handed stuff time-out called by long beach the service game is just overwhelming long beach at this point it hasn't been pure aces but an overpass kill there earlier when tella was at the line you saw four passes in a row that were at 15 to 18 feet you just can't run an offense from there timeout called by the beach trailing 17-15 and down one set to none the dodgers and cubs finish up a three-game series at wrigley field carl ravage eduardo perez and david cohn will have the call on espn it's also available on espn deportes and espn radio our coverage begins at 6 eastern with baseball sunday night play two today i know clayton kershaw pitched almost a perfect seven innings the dodgers won the first seven nothing so they're playing two today old school baseball and finish it up tomorrow at wrigley field don shaw checking in former head coach men's and women's up there at stanford said there was a cardinal roofing company but i'm not sure if it came before malibu or not we're gonna have to get a little more historical research happening here hey applause too for what long beach has done inside their own arena in terms of growing the game and the atmosphere that they have built the support from the students as well as the local community and fans and alumni the great work done inside the pyramid is a terrific place to watch a match you need to go watch a match and they have brought that here with the hot dog costumes and the mustard and people in workman hats i love it great job by the fans showing up on thursday i've been going back tuesday as well but thursday especially as well as tonight and in hawaii nearly a sellout proud to the big west conference tournament finals these are the two programs that support men's volleyball from a spectator and university and athletic department point of view more than anybody else in the country the loudest place you will play in the united states for volleyball hawaii i think it's louder than even byu or nebraska on the women's side like there may be more people but the volume in hawaii even during timeouts the chihu and the the calls back and forth i put that on your list go to long beach first then get yourself a flight to honolulu go there and watch a match as well nathan harlan back to serve critical moment for long beach state remember they led early 10-5 and that ball missed out of bounds i don't want to do that as a serving sub but that's a very tough roll coming cold off the sideline and having to bang that with some velocity and location and look who's going back now tele number 10. did you say velocity and location i did [Applause] a couple of weeks ago [Applause] and her son may be the most popular athlete in all of hawaii that ball is saved by stewart what a play and torui says no way [Applause] the beach roofing company company president the tree well let's just say there have been some acquisitions there's the there's the hawaii roofing company that you mentioned there's the malibu roofing company and we'll give one to the stanford nuclear company as well first block of the match for long beach state and they're among the nation's leaders i'll get to that number in just a minute it's not so much a company as it is a guy who's just with a startup he's got a hammer and some nails he's ready tight set wow that was nicely done by nucleus matched up against aidan knight advantage number 11 in black yeah you should exploit this all the time i would set this a bunch more importantly good pass from galloway that creates that one-on-one opportunity and they get out of that rotation you don't keep toei at the line long beach state number three in the nation in blocks per set at 2.6 so having only one right now isn't good enough now getting tory out of there was huge british telego quick combination long beach is looking a little overwhelmed hawaii is lethal in transition at the moment same way that they got that run that eventually won them the first set they have had an extended session of that flipping in from a five-point deficit to a three-point lead long beach state out of timeouts [Music] [Applause] oh my goodness absolutely thunder down the line by nickolo this second set's been a gem from the off plays that have been made going back to that block from torwing and the off plays by hawkis i think it was who popped it up back off of his left hand without even seeing it to keep that rally alive to a swing like that keep it on your dvr watch it back that's gonna be a lift that's a good call interesting after that last play nicole off lightning down the line off of teletella came over and gave him five under the net okay watch now with a call there the very next mishandled ball on the long beach side that doesn't get called there are going to be some serious complaints [Applause] out of the middle and pretty gutsy taking that one overhand back-to-back by schuard [Applause] now you get off the horse paul you got to get right back on [Music] dust yourself off right back on it and i tell you boss did a nice job of turning that thing that ball was really low [Applause] boss on the night is four of six no errors hit 667. he needs more attempts and hawaii's passing well enough to get him the ball more often [Applause] that is such a good swing by nikola you could see him such a hard ball to hit kevin coming over your head yeah but a missed opportunity for hawaii that ball should have come up that was a nice touch by the block went right to the middle back that should have been a hawaii transition opportunity instead it's an opportunity for long beach to even it up with their best guy at the line 15 kills now for number 23. and 15 kills 5 20 you knew that was going to happen that's a given the question is what are the other people doing [Applause] what a pass quick combination again and long beach state had a chance to pursue but just too much heat there so godbolt is hitting 182 and olympia is hitting 429 but he only has seven attempts four kills on seven tips just not getting the ball so if you have that over on long beach side you have to tell aiden knight go to 31 a little bit more let's see if he's the hot hand that we can balance out and also for long beach state you've got to pass a little bit better if you can against the serving onslaught and get the middle some easy kills well the ball has been at 15 feet for the last 20 minutes [Applause] 22-20 olivier is roofed there's your answer [Applause] [Music] i would cheat and wait for the middle back attack i wouldn't even jump with the quick if it's a perfect pass i would just wait for middle back suck in the wings chase the outsides six blocks now from nucleus and the hawaii rainbow warriors only one for long beach state and i definitely serve nickelodeon [Applause] god goal comes through with a really important kill when you go back kevin in a situation like this are you serving a person or are you just hitting it as hard as you can yeah last serve yeah i would have hit as hard as i could to that spot yeah so i would have been spot first velocity second griggs the all-american libra was able to step in and create the side out opportunity here comes holdwood chance for the beach [Applause] that ball was misplayed nickeloff missed it was a tough chance but nikoloff missed the step to the outside into the antenna that ends up being the perfect tip just about nice play by olivia even to give that ball a shot tracking it over the top of his head smart play by galloway who's facing a well-formed block set point number one for hawaii [Music] [Applause] [Applause] what a magnificent delivery nobody up hawaii takes the two sets to none lead all set up by the swings earlier from tillett he took some huge cuts at that center position this time as he fakes it gives it to his hitter and set two and a 2-0 lead belongs to hawaii [Music] live in westwood historic poly pavilion site of the 51st men's ncaa volleyball championships back with kevin barnett two-time olympian and all-american at pepperdine on paul sunderland hawaii now has taken five straight sets from the number one seed long beach state we talked about at the start of this match the role that hawkins had to play number 23. spearo's hawkish he's three hitting 333 has 10 kills four digs in a couple blocks he's done in a lot of different ways they've been utilizing him down the middle of the court he's taking some good swings against the welford block on the outside as he goes so goes the success for hawaii and we have seen it they are up 2-0 because of this young man's numbers and again going back to thursday night their comeback three sets to two win over ucla 77 perfect or good pass and hawaii right now is really winning that phase very efficient and pressurized serving and they're passing much better than long beach state i talked about in that last set when you look at service aces hawaii is losing that battle five to two if you were to go take it further out to service pressure that battle is definitely being won by hawaii [Applause] getting a little of the aloha spirit there are two sets to none and their fan base they're coming over to visit and feeling uh a little frisky and the hawaii fans are awesome they travel like brazil travels internationally both these clubs doing an outstanding job of drawing their population to this arena one of the best atmospheres we've had i mean this is not quite 20. going back 2018. long beach and ucla you and i in this building but it's about the same it's very close men's volleyball has been on this great growth trajectory long beach state winning it back to back in 28 2019 and hawaii looking to go the fifth straight team going back to 2013 to go back to back [Applause] if long beach is going to avoid that in this set a crowning of hawaii they're gonna have to pass the ball that is the very first thing they're gonna have to pass the ball without that this will be over in three and we will be surprised we've already been treated to a terrific match it's been a really nice first couple of sets very entertaining top top-level plays it hasn't been a blowout like last year but if this goes down in three i am surprised to see long beach lose in straight sets long beach was able to turn it around against ucla on thursday night and we'll see if they can press that button again and they did it in terms of serve and receive remember against ucla long beach state was aced six times ucla had only nine errors johns brawl would take that to the bank every day of the week the final three sets ucla zero aces 13 errors and long beach state is playing for the championship and long beach state put up seven aces in that match most of which the vast majority came in the last three sets briggs perfect pass back row combination and nicolas registering his 16th kill on 26 swings if you're hawaii you can't back off you can't get nervous or tentative from the service line you have to just stay in your groove and keep doing what you do ucla ended up a little bit out of their rhythm and credit to long beach it was a little bit of ucla getting tight but long beach really put it to them and raised their own level they're going to have to do it again callaway jazz galloway has been really good after struggling through the opening couple of rounds here in los angeles [Applause] with that he's gonna be around 200 but it's way better than the 07 that he was batting before good at the service line good pressure he's also digging balls he had nine digs the other night well people might ask why has he been out there when his offensive numbers haven't been great did you see the last pass against torwee i've been really impressed with chaz as he's joined collegiate volleyball last two years his ability to handle the service reception duties of a top-level club couple of smooth early side out scoring plays olivier with the kill off the perfect pass it's all about finding ways to contribute to your team when the offense isn't there particularly for big hitters you have to find some other reason for the coach to keep you out there defensively passing wise maybe giving direction everybody else support making a little place because that's a good pass that's gotta be a double contact has to be yeah that was pretty quick no question about the lift superb dig hanging in with no blockers in front but uh no question on the double contact by night hawaii when the opening set 25-22 they won the second 25-21 [Applause] jade hosick head coach for george mason who will host the championship next year checking in with the fairfax roofing company [Applause] an acquisition maybe elon musk is on the prowl missed by nickeloff but again a bad pass not an ace ball at 30 feet this is where long beach is struggling well but this is as it was in the semi-final this is really good service pressure from hawaii consistent [Applause] they serve in a lot again with velocity and location nucleus [Applause] with the tap down you do not want to be in a vertical competition with chaz galloway that's the first stick this was a nice swing and then the overpass here number one goes about 45 inches off the ground tara firma see you later remember you had it last year i can't do the sound of it give it to me take off on number thank you thank you i remembered it well 6-3 advantage for hawaii legal play [Applause] magnificent save violation here i think they're going to call the sheward made the contact let's check this out [Music] great catch by the referees the left foot of stewart is going to be inside the 10 full line he handles it overhand which means it cannot be attacked [Applause] on the next contact above the level of the net so that left foot was critical big break for long beach state magnificent digs on both sides but sheward can set the ball legally as the liberal only behind the three meter line as you pointed out he was in front of it with his left foot good catch by the referee and good job by hawaii not arguing let it go back real quick if you're hawaii you own the momentum right now i don't care if you get a bad call something weird happens there is no reason to talk to the referees or delay the game so this is the point we're making watch this ball go off the block and watch the left foot of sheward here get a look at it be just over the line as he contacts the ball it's considered inside the 10 foot line and therefore cannot be attacked above the level of the net they didn't want the libero being the setter back when they invented the libero so they put that ruler well it's a very good rule because otherwise it would be way too much of an offensive advantage he could pass it underhand and that ball can be attacked so a contact for libero is legally attacked only when he handles it underneath with his platform inside the 10-foot line behind say foreign do whatever you want [Applause] over the top of the block to me long beach state must pick things up in the serving phase not putting enough pressure on hawaii well it's not happening in this rotation no no this rotation is based on serve the ball and serve it to a tough spot to try and create some offensive disruption for hawaii while you have your best hitters in the front row nucleus a rare hitting air misstat out of they bounds a net violation so that'll bail out nucleus in hawaii was going to be a three-nothing run hawaii hitting 431 so far on the night long beach state 317. [Applause] hey think about those numbers paul we saw at the very beginning of this match they limit their opponents to just over 200 generally we have two teams that are hitting percentages which in most cases win you matches long beach state on the year hits 353 holds their opponents to 254. the hawaii rainbow warriors hold their opponents to 214. we're watching a lot of top shelf offense that ball missed out of bounds but not in the last couple swings well hawaii missed a couple of serves back to back and now that ball missed out of bounds there is vladimir nikolov won the world cup bronze medal world cup won a bronze at the european championships he played 16 years for bulgaria was their captain at the london olympic games in 2012 and was a professional until just three years ago long beach looking for the lead but missed out of bounds and this is where the ball too frequently on the left side gets drawn way off the net by aiden knight you cannot have the ball fading off tell my center make an error you're gonna make it inside the antenna and don't pull the ball way off the net if it's a little tight that's okay that's better right now the ball being pulled away and it makes it very difficult on a rhythm attack boss just on the sideline really good serve once again by jacob it won't go down statistically as an ace wow he is good [Applause] [Music] [Applause] perfect pass by briggs and that ball blocked but just out of bounds mark moody back up middle blocker alan knight head coach for long beach state making some changes they're not afraid to use four middle blockers in a match they routinely use three [Applause] nickeloff now with 18 kills on 32 swings everybody knows where it's going and he's still hitting 469. first freshman ever to be national player of the year now knife is getting a bit of a delay here a little almost de facto time out [Applause] in a conversation with keith merliss we showed you briefly vladimir nicol off and he knew alan knight from the 2012 olympic games and from the world league now the vnl that was part of the connection when the nikola family decided that they wanted their son to have at least a couple of years of a university experience in the united states before turning pro and so vladimir and alex sent out tape everybody knew who he was from the junior and under 19 and under 21 and he decided to sign with long beach state because alan knight convinced the family that he was not only going to have the academic experience but still grow as a player yeah paul i've heard how important that academic experience is to the nikola family i think they i believe that but i think what's going to happen is the salaries are going to get too big for an arm of his caliber it's just gonna get too big and you're eventually gonna be looking at money that is life-changing and go okay while i'm leaving now it's almost happened with some other players in recent memory but when you start talking upper six figures maybe seven that's going to be trouble [Applause] nickel off again good cover [Applause] oh look at that yeah they love that on two play tele nucleus hustling after that but just to finish the thought top flight outside attacker men's professional volleyball overseas how much can they make talking seven figures well you know they have uh name image and likeness now somebody in long beach needs to step it up if they want to keep this young man around yeah be the first ever high value deal for a men's volleyball player i know you caught it there aiden knife almost went on two he left it too low but that play is frequent when aiden knight gets an easy opportunity defensively and nicolas is in the back row he will throw it up in the middle of the court and let nicolas come on too keep an eye on that see if it happens again tied at 11. must win set for clark godbold and long beach state they fall out of bounds good eye once again we might have a challenge we might have a challenge and there is the challenge card by charlie wade once against three challenges per team when you start the match you can challenge in and out touch off a player net violation foot fault on the three meter line and on the end line four contacts ball up or down this ball was called out of bounds another look [Applause] i had that ball out but just barely first look at the bar now yeah the notoriously terrible barney keith merliss better vision he's also going to the benefit of being able to zoom in and check that thing out but i first look there great job by our crew with the end zone view i have it out we're going to try to do exactly the same as you just mentioned keith merliss over on the sideline we're going to try to blow this one up there it is oh well compression of the ball paul that's the hawkeye that's him any part of the ball on any part of the line internationally that ball we would see the graphics come up and the ball would compress we'd see an oblong shadow on the line charlie wade once again the co-coach of the year this season with david niffen of university of california irvine in the big west conference in his 13th year in honolulu started his coaching career at the university of pacific his counterpart alan knight now in his 19th year the ball is ruled in so hawaii will retain all three of their challenges and it's a two-point switch now the 12-11 advantage for hawaii and charlie wade doesn't have to use a mulligan big time golfer big time golfer said he gets out plays with his son a couple times a week volleyball is so popular in hawaii huge crowd following huge media following charlie was saying you know i have to do more media than any other coach in the in college hey let's not be complaining here coach you gotta you got a state that's uh dedicated to raiding in hawaii right now is probably about 85 percent kind of ikana six foot five junior out of honolulu the grandson of wendy and tony crab tony crabb assistant coach on the 1984 olympic team and quite a volleyball family chris craft and then taylor and his brother as well right taylor and taylor in action as a matter of fact the avp austin this weekend taylor crowd and taylor sander former alum of course collegiate volleyball indoors and the national team multiple olympics another challenge that ball was called in so we will have quick back-to-back challenges yeah there's some miscommunication there between olivier and knight is there way way early on that one well you pointed out earlier that ball is drifting off the net the timing not perfect either we're taking back and forth shuttle look at this ball being in or out but it looks like the sets from aiden knight keep drifting off the outside attackers and we've seen it from nikola or almost having to jump backwards to try to attack this ball so you as an attacker then you have to adjust right it's all about cleaning up the next contact you can't just say that's a bad set catch it throw it away or hit it out of bounds or make some sort of show out of it you have to then adjust to what's happening but you have to have an expectation so what i tell my center is never outside the antenna i don't care what else you do with it never outside the antenna that at least takes one axis out of the whole equation and lets me adjust to that ball being on or off the net a little bit easier the officials looking at this one initially it was called in nickeloff with 19 kills olivier with eight got bold with six long beat state hitting 333 and the ruling stands the ball caught a piece of the line so olivier will continue to serve once again must win for top-seeded long beach state hawaii won the opening set 25-22 on the second 25-21 still only one scoring block for long beach state galloway tipping down the line on a perfect pass i would set every time over at night one-on-one every single time [Applause] just appears consistently time after time that hawaii is incrementally able to put on more service pressure than his long beach state nucleus has done it a multitude of times mostly to where olivier stands now on the right back missed badly out of bounds i was trying to get it on nikolaj his stronger serve is middle to left the gentleman area one or six that time he tried to go to five which would be line of lines straight ahead that's not where his comfort zone is in which case the way he's been serving i like his comfort zone more than i like the person just hit that thing hard you guys they've been serving robero briggs and having the ball at 30 feet no problem hit through the barrel sandborne on to serve once again [Applause] background combination good choice that time by night i agree on the choice and the location too on point from aidan knight you don't have because of tip coverage the option for big number 23 so you got to find another solution first lead for long beach state in this third set the fans come alive [Applause] by galloway to recycle the point [Applause] if i'm galloway i'm just keeping the ball in i would serve down the line here to nicola it doesn't have to be hard you just have to make him work no problem for briggs but a nice save that time by mark moody just on the floor here in the third set that ball was a little bit low but moody made it work we'll take the media timeout long beach state on top by one paulie pavilion the 51st ncaa men's volleyball championship hawaii on top two sets to one long beach state at the media timeout leading it 15-14 the next stop on the formula one schedule is the first ever crypto.com miami grand prix our coverage begins tomorrow afternoon at 2 eastern on abc espn ferrari's on the front row i'm a lewis hamilton guy mercedes well you're in seventh i believe last time i looked and he's never finished lower red bull i got you never he's never finished lower than sixth knight coming out of the timeout easy serve what a dig by briggs but couldn't keep the ball playable as godbold went after it [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so here you go ten points to save your season or ten points to go back-to-back champion okay them [Applause] and missed it out of bounds that's a couple of breaks nucleus remember not good contact missed it long and now they get past the serving sub for hawaii [Applause] [Music] 19 kills a couple of digs to go along with an ace [Applause] oh nice dig briggs could not get there he made the nice read but could not get under that ball the hawaii block just too physical maybe that ball should have gone to knife who was there a valiant effort by olivier but that is a tough spot to be in when the block is waiting for you and you have to try and fly in and push the ball seventh block now for hawaii again still just one for long beach state could be moment of the match here for long beach they have to get out of this rotation good call [Music] that's big so the question for long beach is where do you go do you go right back to that middle back you're trapped with your best hitter in the middle back allen knight wants to talk about it yeah as good as tella is and as consistent as he is from the service line he just doesn't miss you got to try to freeze him so coach knight for long beach state is going to burn a timeout hawaii looking to go back to back becoming the fifth team last year in columbus ohio we were there for it and it was never in doubt byu loaded with talent had a solid season we expected it to be a real battle but it was all the rainbow warriors three sets to none and a veteran squad rado parapoonov colton cowell and a host of other fantastic guys gage worsley yep playing the libero position pat gassman as well on that team the gas man one of the great volleyball names of all times the gaspin going 610 probably what 270. you can't get around that guy it was an absolute blowout byu had nothing for hawaii's service game look at how this is gone those repeats you mentioned that paul disappointment for byu three times we've seen him you and i have seen him and they've been served off the court and dismissed 3-0 every single time i want to remind you to it's a big weekend of volleyball no question about that from the gulf coast to the west coast watch the ncaa women's beach volleyball championship tomorrow at 12 30 p.m on espn2 last i checked usc had advanced into the championship match and would get either florida state lmu or a rematch with ucla usc are the defending national champions [Applause] only two aces that does not tell the service story entirely constant pressure because he rarely misses we're sitting at about 18 feet that's where the ball has been passed 70 percent of the time until it's served overpass again good save that time by night and knife's going to be called as a back row blocker long beach trying to say they're sorting this out yeah the captain for hawaii is getting it explained that was a bang bang play and they have given the point in possession to long beach state well but initially it was signal force yeah i was going off our referees and merliss is looking across not sure what is that odds here this is a big moment it's a huge moment gotta get this right [Applause] charlie wade has made his case and the two officials are going to talk it over here it is again kevin so aid knife is in the back row and that's a back row block to me there there's no question that in live action it was coming right at our position that is a back row block because aid knife is coming from behind effectively the middle front in this clip in this case clark godbolt he's playing opposite he can't be up there doing that if you want to call somebody over i suppose he's good but i think that ball was on kevin i'm agreeing with you i'd like to see it again if we possibly can [Applause] [Music] the you cannot block a set the only let's take another look so aidan knight comes from behind clark godbolt he is in the back row he runs across here that ball is hit on top of the tape so you can't beat it back for a blocker here was he below the net i think that they're ruling that knife was below the plane of the net so that technically is a dig not a block maybe in which case the ball is then terminated by long beach well they'll have to replay the point he's above the level of the net right there i agree because as the angle the camera were to go higher his hand would actually be lower so even from the angle that we have which is raised his hand is above the net and that's what charlie wade's going to argue well he's officially challenging now after the officials have discussed amongst one another [Applause] in any case a huge delay to the match do you remember in the fifth set on thursday night long beach state and ucla when aiden knight cut his hand there he is with a bandage there was a really long delay at a crucial juncture there as well so here's a look at the net cam watch knife he's above his plane over and he is above the level of the net that ball should be hawaii's ball [Applause] well these two teams meeting for the national championship for the second time it was long beach state coming out on top in 2019 at the pyramid about 25 miles south of your magnificent facility so i could see an overcall that's what mason briggs wants he wants an overcall there saying that hawaii reached over and that knife has the right to play that ball vertically which he's trying to do on his own side but i think that ball is traveling at the net and going to go over the net so it becomes a question when you attack it now hawaii has done themselves a favor by attacking that many times you'll see players block it you are far more likely when you go up to a block move of this level of joust to get called for an over but that ball right there there's a a quarter of the ball that is on top of the tape that's my ball as a hitter i'm gonna hit that thing every time and make the referees call it interesting conversation i had with the officials coming in the building this afternoon from the parking lot and i asked them i said can you challenge a ball in the plane or a back row blocker and they said no you cannot challenge it it's not one of the categories it's a judgment call but here we are here we are i asked that specific question in anticipation of something like this [Music] [Applause] the decision has been made and it will now be rendered [Applause] they're gonna go to the net violation either way yeah yeah hawaii ball is the right call yeah and that's good work by head coach charlie wade and his staff a lot of allen's gonna want that that ball was attacked over the level of the net but at this point the decision has been made he's going to argue and perhaps delay further but we've had a long enough break let's get back to some volleyball yeah this is where the officials need to take control there's been enough conversation yeah you've made your decision but we have like father like son we have one knife on the r1 one knife on the r2 they they at times have killed the momentum of other teams during matches with delays that are not related to what's happening on the floor at like a veteran sand time out in the old avp you know do what you can get away with and jacob an ice hill back at the line well he does come from norway it's been six or seven minutes he's used to a lot of ice [Applause] perfect dig by nickeloff through the blocking down by olivier maybe a match saving point for long beach said somebody else has to step up isn't olivier is the question [Music] and that was a really good set by aiden knight perfect location timing and rhythm olivier 3 33 10 of 18. he's in the front row i'd keep going to him doorway already has a couple of aces [Applause] oh that could have been a double contact off the edge and out of bounds brett sheward the libro for hawaii has been spot on from start to finish and that ball was gapped and a few words through the net i think some of those might include it hasn't been called on your side 16 digs in the semi final win over the second seed ball state cardinals acer only the third comes at a huge moment and not with the toughest serve either this is in between two receivers placement over power and we mentioned the lack of just pure points timing is everything well hawaii just doesn't miss the other night they had 13 aces and 18 errors in five long sets pressure applying serving team so far in the tournament hawaii's on a 5-1 run and both these teams pulse your point are serving efficiently just eight service errors first excuse each has five aces the problem is long beach has not been able to generate the consistent pressure you just mentioned that hawaii has long beach has consistently been setting the ball from behind the 10-foot line and trying to run an offense which you really cannot from that position whereas hawaii has been in rhythm and in motion more often they've given up more clean aces but they have been in system more often otherwise it's been a lot of very very difficult swings for the beach so far on the night trailing two sets to none hawaii is playing in this championship for the third time in a row remember there was no tournament in 2020 [Applause] lost in 2019 to long beach state beat byu last year and here they are once again three very different teams [Applause] all-american middle blocker hawaii now with a 20-17 advantage in the third [Applause] [Music] god bold down the line but out of bounds it's slipping away [Applause] so this next serve has to be in there are times to go for it and there are times to keep it in you want to hit nickelodeon fine i don't care if you even hit briggs with an easy roller you keep the ball in you keep the pressure on long beach they are in danger of self-destructing long beach state six hitting errors in this set alone that's a little bit of pressure relieved against the beach [Applause] godbolt's been trying to get after chaz galloway with the wrist away hard he didn't quite get there last time schumer took it [Applause] oh good rip into the cross court by nucleus [Applause] that was an outstanding serve from god bold it set this up and just that ball tracked too far inside that block has to be another two foot to the right-hand side nucleus now 10 kills on 21 swings no errors hitting 476. tele has been as advertised just superb all night long [Applause] [Music] just out of bounds long beach still alive and how about that who's playing middle back guillermo balls your middle blocker serves and plays middle back well remember in the men's game you're only allowed six substitutions as opposed to women's college volleyball where you get 15. i thought it was 51. no it's 15. okay it's essentially accepted a very long set infinity harlan again nathan comes in that's back-to-back serving specialist has come in and missed hawaii is two points away fans are feeling it there are times to go away from your guy there times to set him right now is the time to set him you have to have a side out here i would cheat everything i have to 23. who cares about the d-ball at this point [Applause] [Music] that ball at the three meter line and still nickel off off the block and out of bounds tough swing [Applause] [Music] [Applause] i wouldn't be surprised to see a perfect pass till i take a cut at it it's the right moment off the edge what a delivery against the grain after a clutch pass by galloway championship point the building where it all started 51 years ago ucla won that first ever championship over long beach state and hawaii looking to make it two in a row [Applause] jack walmer on to serve championship point number one [Applause] that's gonna be a net violation hawaii's won it [Applause] a reconstituted hawaii team with just the right blend of new pieces and jacob again improving and sets his team to back-to-back national championships what a job from the service line by that man and by his entire team and for back-to-back championships yes but also without losing a set three sets to none last year over byu three sets to none this year over long beach state hawkins finishes hitting 333 with 14 kills nucleus hits 511 kills we said the outsides were key hawaii raises the trophy what a solid performance in every phase of the game blocking serving attacking just tremendous and congratulations to the hawaii rainbow warriors back-to-back national champions i want to remind you coming up next the 2022 jacksonville seo pornhub championships the bag brawl at mountain america expo in salt lake city utah join us on espn plus for the 2022 men's national championship trophy presentation for my partner kevin barnett i'm paul sunderland from pawlik pavilion good night aloha championship to hawaii [Applause]

Channel: UH VOLLEYBALL FAN

Views: 39,010

Keywords: UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII MEN'S VOLLEYBALL, RAINBOW WARRIORS, RAINBOW WARRIOR VOLLEYBALL, GO BOWS, HAWAIIMVB, WARRIOR BALL 22, NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 2022

Id: 9axe9vI-M4E

Length: 121min 14sec (7274 seconds)

Published: Tue May 10 2022