Josh Riley pounded 19 kills to power Long Beach State to a 26-30, 30-23, 30-24, 30-21 volleyball victory over Hawai'i tonight in the Walter Pyramid.

The 49ers swept the two-match series to improve to 7-5 and 6-3 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

The Warriors fell to 3-8 and 2-6.

The Warriors entered their second road trip refreshed (they had a bye last weekend) and with momentum (they swept a two-match series from Cal State Northridge).

But a breakdown in passing led to a combined .112 hitting in the final two sets.

"They upgraded their serving, and maybe that caused us to downgrade our passing," UH coach Mike Wilton said.

Left-side hitter Gus Tuaniga, who was benched against Northridge because of academic concerns, hammered a team-high 18 kills and provided steady passing. But the other left-side hitter, Steven Hunt, struggled (nine kills, 10 errors), and the Warriors had difficulty establishing a block.

Middle blocker Matt "Dragon" Rawson did not practice because of stomach-flu-like symptoms. The Warriors were out-blocked, 16-3.

The outcome was a disappointment. "I have to admit it," Wilton said. "We're doing the two-steps-forward, two-steps-backward thing, for sure."

Because of a scheduling quirk, the Warriors' next match is against Stanford Feb. 26 and 28. They play only four matches in February.