The University of Hawai'i volleyball team went to great lengths only to suffer a narrow loss to host Cal State Northridge last night in the Matadome.

The scores were 30-28, 41-43, 26-30, 30-22, 15-13.

"It was a valiant effort," UH coach Mike Wilton said. "For sure, we came to play. We competed hard. But I'm very disappointed in the outcome. I thought it was a winnable match."

The Warriors fell to 10-12 overall and 7-10 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. They have five MPSF matches remaining, including tonight's rematch. The Matadors are 18-4 and 14-3.

The Warriors were without middle blocker Matt Rawson (torn right labrum, head cold) and outside attacker Jim Clar (sore right shoulder).

But left-side hitter Joshua Walker, who suffered an apparent sprained ankle in Saturday's match against Southern California, declared himself physically fit. Walker started.

The Warriors won the marathon that was Game 2, then seized control with a victory in Game 3.

"We ran out of gasoline in Game 4," Wilton said.

For the first-to-15 deciding game, setter Sean Carney moved to outside hitter, replacing the other co-captain, Jacob Schkud.

"I thought it would give us an energy boost," Wilton said. "We seemed more energized in Game 5."

Schkud re-entered for the final run, replacing Walker. Schkud's kill closed UH to 14-13. But then Schkud misfired on the next play, ending the match after 2 hours, 56 minutes.

"I'll say this, they didn't beat us. I'm sure of that," Wilton said, noting the Warriors missed serves and often hit too tentatively.