WARRIOR VOLLEYBALL
RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Jim Clar of UH hit past Penn State's Alex Gutor and Max Lipsitz last night during Game 1.
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Warriors come up empty
Hawaii loses two matches for the first time in its Outrigger Invitational
There's a first time for everything.
Last night it was multiplied by two.
Next Up at UCLA on Wednesday
All-Tournament Team
MVP: Russell Holmes, BYU
» BYU: Robby Stowell, Yosleyder Cala, Yamil Perez
» Hawaii: Jim Clar
» Loyola-Chicago: James Grunst
» Penn State: Max Holt
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Not only did Penn State sweep Hawaii for the first time in their 17-match series, 30-27, 30-24, 32-30. It was also the first time the Warriors lost two tournament matches in the 13 years of the Outrigger Hotels Invitational men's volleyball tournament.
The ninth-ranked Nittany Lions (2-2) did it by being steadier over the 1 hour and 50 minutes, spreading out their offense and moving sophomore Matt Anderson from the left to opposite, where he responded with a career-high 18 kills. Complementing him was senior hitter Alex Gutor, who went from nine kills and .000 hitting percentage against Brigham Young on Friday to hitting .410 with 22 kills.
A Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 2,309 (3,612 tickets) saw senior hitter Lauri Hakala lead Hawaii with 13 kills and sophomore opposite Jim Clar add 12.
The few who showed up for yesterday's first match got a preview of the country's new No. 1 team, thanks to top-ranked UC Irvine being swept at home by No. 5 Pepperdine last night, 30-26, 30-27, 30-23
BYU (9-0), currently ranked second, took just 88 minutes to finish off No. 13 Loyola-Chicago 30-16, 30-22, 30-22 and claim the tournament title. The Cougars are 5-0 in their two OHI appearances.
After losing their second straight, the Warriors (2-4) are sure to plummet in the polls. But that is the least of their worries as they head to struggling UCLA for Mountain Pacific Sports Federation matches Wednesday and Friday.
"We're still trying to find ourselves, we're still looking," UH senior middle Dio Dante said. "It was the same thing as last night (when losing in five to Loyola). We did not come out with fire, did not come out ready to play.
"I can't explain it. There's nothing to say except we got beat."
"There's a lot of things we have to work on," said Clar, the only Warrior on the all-tournament team. "We had good times, we had bad times. We need to do a better job at making more good times."
Hawaii's best of times came at the end of Game 3 when holding off two Penn State attempts to end it. The Nittany Lions led 29-27 before the Warriors tied it on a kill by Kyle Klinger and a block of Anderson by Klinger and Jake Schkud.
When Anderson hit wide, it gave Hawaii a shot at forcing a Game 4. Penn State -- whose two previous wins over UH were both in five -- instead ended it by blocking Hakala and Schkud.
Helping Penn State's cause was its defense, where the visitors finished with a 43-29 advantage in digs. Senior libero Ryan Walthall finished with a match-high 10 digs.
BYU 3, Loyola-Chicago 0
The Cougars (8-0) so dominated that the only time co-head coach Shawn Patchell called a timeout was at 14-14 in Game 3. BYU responded with a 7-2 run to pull away from the Ramblers.
Sophomore hitter Yosleyder Cala led the Cougars with 14 kills and freshman opposite Robby Stowell added 12. BYU outblocked Loyola 13-1.5, with freshman middle Rodnei Santos in on six and junior middle Russell Holmes five.
For the Ramblers (4-2), senior middle James Grunst put down 12 kills.
Penn State def. Hawaii
30-27, 30-24, 32-30
Nittany Lions (2-2, 1-1 OHI)
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|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Smith |
3 |
6 |
1 |
10 |
.500 |
0 |
1 |
8
|
Lipsitz |
3 |
5 |
0 |
7 |
.714 |
1 |
2 |
3
|
Gutor |
3 |
22 |
6 |
39 |
.410 |
0 |
1 |
6
|
Holt |
3 |
6 |
4 |
14 |
.143 |
0 |
3 |
1
|
Anderson |
3 |
18 |
8 |
40 |
.250 |
1 |
3 |
5
|
Murray |
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
.500 |
0 |
1 |
9
|
Foltz |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
1
|
Walthall |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
10
|
Sweitzer |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Totals |
3 |
58 |
19 |
112 |
.348 |
2 |
11 |
43 |
Warriors (2-4, 0-2 OHI)
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g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
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Rawson |
2 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
.200 |
0 |
1 |
0
|
Clar |
3 |
12 |
5 |
29 |
.241 |
0 |
0 |
3
|
Hakala |
3 |
13 |
5 |
36 |
.222 |
0 |
1 |
5
|
Beckwith |
3 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1.000 |
0 |
1 |
3
|
Dante |
3 |
7 |
1 |
13 |
.462 |
0 |
2 |
1
|
Vanzant |
2 |
3 |
1 |
10 |
.200 |
0 |
0 |
3
|
Grgas |
1 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
.000 |
0 |
1 |
0
|
Kalima |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
9
|
Klinger |
1 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
.200 |
0 |
1 |
1
|
Carney |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
3
|
Schkud |
2 |
6 |
1 |
14 |
.357 |
0 |
2 |
1
|
China |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
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Totals |
3 |
48 |
17 |
118 |
.263 |
0 |
9 |
29 |
Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Penn State (5): Gutor 4, Holt. Hawaii (2): Hakala, Dante. Assists -- Loyola (56): Murray 50, Walthall 3, Smith 2, Anderson. Hawaii(46): Beckwith 40, Carney 4, Klinger, Hakala.
T -- 1:50. Officials -- Dickson Chun, Dan Hironaka. A -- 2,309.