RAINBOW WARRIOR VOLLEYBALL
UH drops USC for seventh straight victory
The Warriors sweep the Trojans to close out their road trip with victories in all four games
LOS ANGELES » Challenge met. Big time.
The Hawaii volleyball team matched its ranking with its road success with No. 4 last night. The fourth-ranked Warriors finished off its four-match trip with another victory, this one a 90-minute sweep of No. 14 Southern California, 30-28, 30-20, 31-29, at North Gym.
Led by junior Lauri Hakala's 16 kills, a pro-Hawaii crowd of 400 saw the Warriors top the Trojans for the 11th straight time. Senior Matt Carere added 11 kills and senior Jose Delgado 10 as Hawaii won its seventh straight game and improved to 11-4 overall and 9-3 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
Juan Figueroa led USC (8-11, 5-9) with 16 kill, and Joao Grangeiro added 11.
After splitting its first three MPSF series, Hawaii has now swept its last three. The Warriors are idle until hosting No. 7 UCLA (9-7, 5-5) on March 10 and 11.
"This league is really talented and for us to win four on the road like this is big," Hawaii coach Mike Wilton said. "This is a great accomplishment.
"What I liked tonight was how our guys continued the ability to weather storms and not get bogged down in what had happened. They continued to play in the moment and moved on after mistakes."
Case in point. The Warriors appeared to have reached match point at 29-27 in Game 3 on a kill by Hakala. Instead, Hakala was called for going under the net, giving the point to the Trojans and tying it at 28-all.
Hakala was good on his next swing, giving Hawaii a 29-28 lead and its first swing at ending it. A net violation by Delgado tied it for what would be the 10th and final time at 29-29.
The Warriors earned their seventh sweep of the year, finishing it off with kills by Hakala and Delgado. Hawaii, which leads the MPSF in hitting percentage, hit .333 to USC's .119.
"This was another tough challenge," Wilton said. "We ran away from them in Game 2 and had a pretty nice lead in Game 3. But we had some errors and that got them going.
"It was a real battle at the end and I'm proud of the team. They were tested."
Hawaii passed with flying colors, starting with winning a tight Game 1 that was tied 14 times with six lead changes. Neither team had more than a two-point advantage over the first 27 minutes, with the Trojans taking their last lead at 27-26 on Grangeiro's ace.
Hawaii scored two quick points only to have Figueroa tie it at 28-all with his seventh kill. The Warriors blocked Grangeiro and the game ended when Andrew Vernon hit wide.
Carere had no kills in Game 1, but made up for it with five in Game 2.
The closest the Trojans came was at 2-1, with the Warriors enjoying leads as large as 10 points in taking a 2-0 lead.
USC did not give up, even after falling behind in Game 3. Hawaii appeared to be in control at 22-17, but the Trojans answered with five consecutive points to tie it.
USC's first lead of Game 3 came at 25-24 on a Carere hitting error.
Grangeiro's serving error knotted it at 25, but the Trojans never led the rest of the way in losing their third straight.
The Warriors had another big blocking night with 14 1/2 blocks to the Trojans' 5 1/2. Hakala was in on seven and senior middle Mauli'a La Barre six.
Hawaii was scheduled to return home today and return to practice Friday. The team will have the weekend off, participating in the Relay for Life on campus, before beginning preparations for the Bruins.
Since beating Hawaii in five in the Outrigger Hotels Invitational on Jan. 20, UCLA has gone 6-4, with road losses at BYU, USC and Long Beach State and a home loss to Cal State Northridge.
Hawaii def. USC, 30-28, 30-20, 31-29
WARRIORS (11-4 OVERALL, 9-3 MPSF)
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d |
Delgado |
3 |
10 |
3 |
20 |
.350 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
Hakala |
3 |
16 |
5 |
27 |
.407 |
1 |
6 |
2 |
Carere |
3 |
11 |
2 |
23 |
.391 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
Beckwith |
3 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1.000 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
La Barre |
3 |
3 |
3 |
7 |
.000 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
Dante |
3 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
.000 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
Kalima |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Carney |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
Reft |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
Totals |
3 |
42 |
14 |
84 |
.333 |
6 |
17 |
19 |
TROJANS (8-11 OVERALL, 5-9 MPSF)
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d |
Schellenberg |
2 |
2 |
4 |
7 |
-.286 |
0 |
2 |
5 |
Vernon |
3 |
5 |
3 |
15 |
.133 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
Figueroa |
3 |
16 |
12 |
39 |
.103 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
Grangeiro |
3 |
11 |
7 |
23 |
.174 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
Mosko |
3 |
6 |
3 |
12 |
.250 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
Killian |
3 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
.200 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
Wilkes |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Morris |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
Anderson |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Totals |
3 |
42 |
30 |
101 |
.119 |
01 |
11 |
24 |
Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Hawaii (2): Beckwith, Hakala. USC (3) Grangeiro, Vernon, Wilkes. Assists -- Hawaii (37): Beckwith 36, Dante. USC (39): Killian 35, Grangeiro 4.
T -- 1:30. Officials -- Scott Hogue, Verna Kluhnikin. A -- 400.
MPSF
Through February 28
Team |
W |
L |
Pct. |
All |
Brigham Young |
10 |
2 |
.833 |
12-2 |
UC Irvine |
9 |
2 |
.818 |
14-3 |
Hawaii |
9 |
3 |
.750 |
11-4 |
Pepperdine |
9 |
3 |
.750 |
9-3 |
Long Beach State |
7 |
4 |
.636 |
12-5 |
UC Santa Barbara |
6 |
6 |
.500 |
9-8 |
UCLA |
5 |
5 |
.500 |
10-7 |
CSU Northridge |
4 |
6 |
.400 |
8-7 |
USC |
5 |
9 |
.357 |
8-11 |
Pacific |
3 |
9 |
.250 |
5-11 |
Stanford |
2 |
9 |
.181 |
4-13 |
UC San Diego |
0 |
11 |
.000 |
1-14 |
Yesterday's result
Hawaii def. USC, 30-28, 30-20, 31-29
Today's matches
Pepperdine at UCLA
Long Beach State at UC Santa Barbara
Friday's matches
Pacific at IPFW
Long Beach State at CSU Northridge
Stanford at BYU
UC Irvine at UCLA
UC San Diego at UC Santa Barbara
Saturday's matches
Stanford at BYU
Pacific at IPFW
UC San Diego at CSU Northridge