Friday, February 6, 1998
’Bows outlast LMU
'Lucky' Hawaii remains
From staff and wire reports
perfect in the conferenceLOS ANGELES -- Better lucky than good. That's the feeling Mike Wilton had last night after his University of Hawaii men's volleyball team escaped with a 16-14, 13-15, 16-14, 15-7 victory over Loyola Marymount.
The match at Gersten Pavilion lasted 2 hours and 52 minutes, with the Rainbows finally wearing down the Lions with a 7-0 run in Game 4.
"Loyola is a very good team and we feel real fortunate to get a win tonight," the Hawaii coach said. "They outfought us and out-scrapped us. They played very aggressively and I hope we can get our team to play like that.
"We knew they'd be the best team we face on this road trip and they were. I think we've been very lucky to win both matches so far."
Hawaii goes for a sweep of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation road trip tonight at Cal State Northridge. The Rainbows (6-1) put their 4-0 conference record on the line against the Matadors (0-3, 2-3) at 5 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on KCCN radio (1420-AM).
Hawaii appeared ready to make quick work of LMU, jumping out to leads of 6-0 and 7-3 in Game 1. But the Lions rallied behind All-American candidate Jim Farmer, who put down five of his match-high 40 kills and served an ace during a run that gave LMU an 11-8 lead.
In what would be a recurring theme of big leads and big rallies, the Rainbows tied it at 13, then held off two game points and scored three of their own to win.
In Game 2, the Rainbows led 5-0 and 13-6 before the Lions scored nine unanswered points, using another ace by Farmer to even the match after 90 minutes.
Game 3 saw the teams trade the lead seven times before Hawaii held off three game points at 14-13.
A kill by Naveh Milo tied it at 14, and four sideouts later, Milo was in on a block and the Lions hit long to give the Rainbows the game and the momentum. Twenty minutes later it was over as Hawaii brushed off an 0-4 deficit, outscoring LMU, 15-3.
"We couldn't stand prosperity," said Wilton, whose team hosts George Mason in nonconference matches Wednesday and Friday. "We let big leads slip away. We're not playing well right now and you have to give Loyola a lot of credit for that tonight.
"When you're on the road and you're not playing well, you have to figure out ways to win. We managed to do that."
Wilton credited sophomore middle Andre Breuer with keeping Hawaii in the match with 24 kills and nine blocks. Milo added 23 kills and 11 digs and Sivan Leoni had 15 kills and nine blocks.
Senior reserve Jason Salmeri played in the final two games and had seven kills, five blocks and two aces.
1997-98 UH Men’s Volleyball
Schedule and Recordhttp://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
