The562’s coverage of Long Beach State athletics for the 2025-26 season is sponsored by Marilyn Bohl.
It was a bitter ending to an otherwise sweet season for Long Beach State men’s volleyball.
The Beach appeared in the NCAA Final Four at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday, a stage it has become familiar with over the last decade. But Long Beach State fell short of reaching the national championship match for a third straight season, losing to Hawai’i in four sets, 25-15, 18-25, 25-21, 25-22.
“When you hit this moment, everybody is going to feel it in their own way,” LBSU coach Nick MacRae said of the emotions after the match. “As competitors, of course we want to be on the other side. But as learners of life, you have to feel it, and as these guys know, it’s all about how you respond to the moment. It’s okay to feel it in real time because it means you put your blood, sweat, tears and soul into striving for it. All 17 guys are going through it.”
The match marked the end of MacRae’s first season as head coach, a year that featured the Beach’s ninth Final Four appearance in the last 10 years despite an influx of young talent and plenty of obstacles. Seniors Connor Bloom, Dane Hillis and Skyler Varga joined him at the postgame press conference to reflect following their final match with the Beach.
“The culture of the team is the kind of thing that evolves with the people who come in this program and the people who believe,” Bloom said. “We’ve all just been striving to leave it better than we found it when we were freshman. The hope is that every year, every group of seniors can help improve and help grow the program and grow the culture.”
For First-Team All-American outside hitter Varga, the loss marked the end of a collegiate career that began when he arrived in the United States to play for the Beach four years ago. A large group of family members from Saskatchewan, Canada, was in attendance for his final match with Long Beach State.
“It honestly didn’t really hit me until I gave my mom a hug,” he said. “That was hard. I know she’s proud of me, and my entire family is. So, it was difficult to see my family in the end there. I’m happy that they were able to experience my last match around me.”
It’s tough to look at the final stat sheet and expect any other result, as Hawai’i dominated across the board. The Rainbow Warriors hit .337 on the night compared to Long Beach’s .200 and outblocked the Beach 14-6. Long Beach did finish with six aces to Hawai’i’s four, but also committed eight more total errors, which were all hitting errors.
Hawai’i controlled all of those categories in the opening set, which the Beach dropped by 10 points. Long Beach committed 10 errors compared to just two from the Rainbow Warriors, who hit .529 while adding four blocks and two aces. The Beach managed just a .125 hitting percentage with eight hitting errors.
Although a closer set, it was much the opposite for Long Beach State in the second, where it hit an improved .273 with just four errors compared to Hawai’i’s .200. The Beach’s energy was the biggest difference in the set, fueling a 5-1 run to take control early. Long Beach never trailed after that and closed the set on a 5-0 run.
Freshman opposite Wojciech Gajek led that final run and caught fire in the set, much like he did in the pair’s Big West Championship matchup, as he recorded an ace and a kill during the run to help the Beach tie the match at one set apiece. He was at the forefront of plenty of player and fan gamesmanship Saturday night after throwing the shakas down in the championship match two weeks ago.
Long Beach State then fought the waves of the third set, which saw them trail 10-5 before a timeout called by MacRae. The Beach immediately came out of the break with a 5-0 run to tie the set, including three kills from Varga. Hawai’i responded with all the momentum and closed the set on a 15-11 run.
The Beach again failed to withstand the momentum swings in the fourth set. It was a promising start as Long Beach led 17-13, but that was followed by a 7-2 Hawai’i run. The Rainbow Warriors later closed the set on a 5-2 run to clinch their first national championship appearance since 2023.
Varga led the Beach on Saturday with 13 kills, hitting .290 while adding an ace and three block assists. Gajek finished with 11 kills but hit just .034 with 10 hitting errors, also chipping in an ace. Jackson Cryst had five kills, two aces and five blocks, while Jake Pazanti posted team highs with 38 assists and seven digs.
Interestingly enough, Hawai’i’s win officially snapped a 14-year streak of repeat NCAA champions. Had Long Beach State reached the final and won again, it would have become the seventh consecutive program to repeat as national champion.
Hawai’i will gear up to face UC Irvine on Monday in an all-Big West NCAA championship match at 4pm in Pauley Pavilion.
