Instead, a Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 4,469 was stunned into silence as the Warriors completed a come-from-ahead 21-30, 23-30, 30-28, 30-27, 15-13 loss to the 49ers last night.

"When you lose in five, everyone is always a little more upset," UH middle blocker Joshua Stanhiser said. "It's because we were right there. We were doing what we wanted to do in Games 1 and 2. They made a push in Game 3. We had opportunities in all three (final) games. But they closed, and we didn't, and that really hurts."

The 49ers improved 22-5 overall and 15-4 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The Warriors fell to15-9 and 11-7.

With a revised lineup, the Warriors were poised to coast to victory. Dionisio Dante, a second-year freshman from Maui, made his first career start, in place of middle blocker Mauli'a LaBarre, who is suffering from a sprained left ankle. UH coach Mike Wilton decided to start Pedro Azenha, usually an opposite hitter, on the left side in place of Delano Thomas, the Warriors' best server.

"It was a coach's decision," Wilton said. "I liked the lineup we went with, and it turned out to be the right decision."

During the 10-minute intermission between Games 2 and 3, Wilton decided to go with Thomas, who provided a spark as a guest server in the first two games. But to start Thomas in Game 3 meant to bench either Azenha, a powerful server and hitter, or Ryan Woodward, a reliable passer. Wilton chose to bench Woodward, leaving libero Alfred Reft as the Warriors' primary passer.

The suddenly rejuvenated 49ers smelled a weakness, and repeatedly served sizzling jumpers or dancing floaters to anyone but Reft. The Warriors' ensuing sloppy passing unraveled their offense.

UH setter Kimo Tuyay scrambled to salvage errant passes. That led to hurried sets. That resulted in Thomas committing four attack errors in seven swings in Game 3. Wilton summoned Woodward, for Azenha, but by then the momentum had shifted.

"Hindsight is 20-20," Wilton said of the lineup change for Game 3. "If I could do it over again, I wouldn't make that move. We were on a roll. I should have left it that way. This isn't a knock on Delano. I want to make that clear. He is somebody who always provides some offensive power. But Woody was doing the little things, the things that go unnoticed, and I shouldn't have changed things. I thought it was a good move, but it wasn't."

In previous years, the 49ers appeared to be fueled by emotions. They toned it down this season, according to middle blocker David Lee, trying to "play real solid volleyball."

But in the locker room between Games 2 and 3, Lee recalled, "We said, 'Let's drop everything and come out and have a great time and play Long Beach State volleyball.' We tried to play with more emotion. We wanted to change it up and put our hearts on our sleeves and put everything into it."

The 49ers sacrificed the middle, instead trying to plant double blocks on the corners. UH's Matt Bender ripped 25 kills, but committed 12 attack errors. When Thomas or Azenha launched shots from the front corners or from the back row, "we tried to get touches, keep it alive and try to get defensive digs," Lee said.

In the first-to-15 final game, there were two ties — at 12 and 13.

Lee hammered a kill to set up aloha ball, and then Scott Touzinsky placed a serve between Woodward and Azenha for an ace.

"It was a tough loss," Azenha said. "In volleyball, you can lose your focus in a few seconds. They got a point. They got the momentum. We looked like we were kind of tired, too. That's not an excuse."