The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team played short-handed and lost its composure at times in exhibition matches last night, but still put up a fight against Long Beach State.

Paul Lotman and Norm Hutton combined for 51 kills and the 49ers overcame 31 kills by Lauri Hakala to fend off Hawai'i, 30-24, 30-28, 30-32, 27-30, 15-9, and salvage a split of two exhibitions before 678 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"They were real hungry," Hawai'i senior setter Brian Beckwith said of the 49ers. "They basically came out with an all-or-nothing attitude, and served really tough."

In the first match, Steven Grgas had 14 kills and Jim Clar 10 as Hawai'i swept Long Beach State 32-30, 30-26, 30-22.

The victory allowed Hawai'i to clinch the four-match exhibition series, 3-1. The Warriors swept the 49ers twice on Thursday.

Hawai'i coach Mike Wilton said three of his players were out with injuries, including two starters.

Senior all-conference middle blocker Dio Dante tore ligaments in his right thumb during an exhibition road trip in Vancouver, B.C., last month, and senior outside hitter Eric Kalima was injured last weekend when he was mowing the lawn and a piece of wood shot up into his knee, Wilton said. Freshman libero Cory Enriques is out with an undisclosed injury, Wilton added.

Dante and Kalima are expected to return in time for the season, Wilton said.

UH officially opens its 2007 season on Jan. 3 and 5 with a pair of exhibitions against the University of British Columbia at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Wilton said the injuries allowed him an opportunity to get some other players game time.

"They looked a little green out there, but it was all good," he said.

In Game 5, Hawai'i fell behind 8-5 after grabbing an early lead. Hakala's kill cut Hawai'i's deficit to 9-8, but the 49ers closed the match with a 6-1 run with Hutton scoring the final three points.

"I couldn't ask for anything more than a five-gamer to see how our guys would respond under pressure on the road," Long Beach State coach Alan Knipe said. "Obviously, it's not perfect volleyball. It's November volleyball, but it was important for our guys."

Hawai'i committed 20 service errors in the loss. In Game 3, the Warriors had seven service errors and were issued two yellow cards for misconduct, but still won.

"It's not how we like to portray ourselves at Hawai'i," said Beckwith, who was issued a yellow along with freshman middle blocker Matt Rawson.

"It's never good to lose your cool," added Wilton, who benched Rawson for a stretch after the infraction.

Beckwith and Rawson redeemed themselves in the fourth game. With the score tied at 27, Beckwith scored on a well-placed dump shot, and combined with Rawson on a block. Hawai'i won the game on a Long Beach State hitting error.

"When it comes down to the end of the match, we as a team, really try to play error-free," Beckwith said.

Ernest Vidinha added 11 kills for UH.

Reach Brandon Masuoka at bmasuoka@honoluluadvertiser.com.