WARRIOR VOLLEYBALL
UH drops depth on thin Gauchos
UC Santa Barbara fails to come up with enough of a block to give Hawaii a workout
There may be safety in numbers, but when it comes to the Hawaii men's volleyball team, there's also plenty of talent in those numbers.
The Warriors showed off the luxury of their depth during last night's exhibition match against UC Santa Barbara, sweeping the Gauchos 30-22, 30-21, 33-31 in 93 minutes. A studio audience of 576 saw Brian Beckwith set a balanced attack with seven UH attackers finish unofficially with at least four kills.
Warrior middles Dio Dante and Mauli'a LaBarre combined for 14 kills and Jose Delgado came off the bench for nine kills in Game 3. It was over so quickly that several of the UH players planned to take in a late movie.
"I'm not surprised we won, we've been practicing hard," Dante said. "It's a little surprising we were able to win in three. But we all had a lot of fun out there and played with confidence."
While the Warriors were headed out to see "Saw II," the Gauchos were looking to regroup after running into the UH buzz saw on the left side. Hawaii's left-side hitters shredded the UCSB block, led by Delgado, who often went up with no blocker on him.
"Our block was really exposed," said UCSB coach Ken Preston, whose team unofficially was outblocked 11.5-5.5. "I thought our passing was pretty poor. We weren't very effective at receiving the ball and they outserved us.
"We weren't very good in the first two games, got a little better in the third."
But not good enough to take a game off the Warriors, despite Hawaii giving UCSB 11 points in Game 3 on service errors. The Gauchos held off three match points before the Warriors ended it when Dante stuffed freshman setter Max Klineman's attempted dump shot.
"I wouldn't have been disappointed if we had gone to a fourth," Hawaii coach Mike Wilton said. "But the boys pulled it out in three and good for them.
"I didn't like all the missed serves, and there were a rash of them. We basically had two units out there, one for Games 1 and 2, the other for Game 3. We have 13 guys all pitching for those starting spots and maybe only Alfie (libero Alfred Reft) has his job sewn up."
Although Hawaii is listing only one libero on the roster this season in Reft, the Warriors also have Eric Kalima, the reserve libero the past two seasons. Kalima has been moved to the outside, where he put down four kills last night in his first shot at the front row.
"As much as I like libero, I like playing outside hitter, too," said Kalima, an all-state player at Kamehameha. "I'm just happy to be playing. I thought we played well after having a slow start.
"Tomorrow, we need to keep playing like we did, play hard and stay focused."
The teams meet again at 7 tonight in an exhibition that is closed to the public.
"I love Kalima's intensity," said Dante, Kalima's Asics clubmate for one season. "It's really good to have another solid defensive guy out there backing us up."
All-American opposite Evan Patak led the Gauchos with 12 kills in what Preston considered an off-night for his junior.
This was the Gauchos' first competition after three weeks of practice. Hawaii has been practicing for about six weeks and went 4-0 in exhibitions against the University of British Columbia earlier in the month.
Hawaii def. UC Santa Barbara
30-22, 30-21, 33-31
Gauchos
|
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Jensen |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
2
|
Fisher |
3 |
9 |
0 |
10 |
.900 |
0 |
3 |
3
|
Zakarian |
3 |
5 |
3 |
16 |
.125 |
0 |
0 |
2
|
Brunner |
3 |
9 |
2 |
16 |
.438 |
0 |
2 |
2
|
Richman |
3 |
3 |
2 |
8 |
.125 |
0 |
0 |
8
|
Patak |
3 |
12 |
7 |
33 |
.152 |
0 |
3 |
5
|
Berman |
2 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
-.500 |
0 |
0 |
2
|
Wilson |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Mathews |
2 |
3 |
1 |
6 |
.333 |
0 |
2 |
3
|
Norton |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
5
|
Klineman |
2 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
-.667 |
0 |
1 |
1
|
Totals |
3 |
41 |
18 |
95 |
.242 |
0 |
11 |
33 |
Warriors
|
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Kalima |
2 |
4 |
2 |
9 |
.222 |
0 |
2 |
0
|
Carere |
2 |
5 |
3 |
17 |
.118 |
0 |
4 |
5
|
Beckwith |
3 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1.000 |
0 |
3 |
7
|
Bender |
2 |
5 |
0 |
14 |
.357 |
0 |
0 |
3
|
La Barre |
2 |
7 |
1 |
12 |
.500 |
0 |
4 |
0
|
Dante |
3 |
7 |
0 |
9 |
.778 |
0 |
3 |
2
|
Klinger |
1 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
1.000 |
0 |
2 |
0
|
Delgado |
1 |
8 |
1 |
15 |
.467 |
1 |
0 |
0
|
Hakala |
1 |
5 |
2 |
9 |
.333 |
0 |
1 |
2
|
Reft |
3 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
6
|
Carney |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Schkud |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
1 |
0
|
Clar |
1 |
2 |
2 |
7 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Totals |
3 |
46 |
11 |
98 |
.357 |
1 |
20 |
25 |
Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- UCSB (4): Zakarian, Richman, Patak, Mathews. Hawaii (11): Bender 4, Carere 3, Beckwith, Dante, Klinger, Hakala. Assists -- UCSB (39): Jensen 22, Klineman 10, Norton 3, Zakarian 2, Brunner 2. Hawaii (44): Beckwith 41, Reft 2, Carere.
T -- 2:33. Officials -- Ernie Ho, Dickson Chun. A -- 576.