WARRIOR VOLLEYBALL
Cougars stop Warriors in 4
PROVO, Utah » The light snowfall outside Smith Fieldhouse turned into an avalanche inside last night.
With outside hitters Yosleyder Cala and Ivan Perez bombing away for a combined 49 kills and opposite Robby Stowell adding 19, No. 4 Brigham Young ended its four-match slide at the expense of No. 12 Hawaii. The Cougars needed 2 hours and 20 minutes to turn back the Warriors in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men's volleyball match, 28-30, 30-22, 30-22, 30-24.
A vocal crowd of 2,771 saw BYU improve to 10-4 overall and 6-3 in the MPSF, while Hawaii slipped to 3-10 and 3-8. The teams meet again today at 4 p.m. Hawaii time.
The Warriors got 17 kills from hitter Jim Clar, while hitter Lauri Hakala, who missed the past three matches with a strained abdominal muscle, added 15. The Warriors outblocked the taller Cougars 14.5-10.5, with hitter Jake Schkud in on six and setter Brian Beckwith five.
But "blocking is so overrated, and that's the gospel truth," Hawaii coach Mike Wilton said. "We're leading the conference in blocking, but we're tied for ninth place in the standings.
"Blocking doesn't win games. Passing and serving and having outside hitters put balls away is what wins games."
The Cougars did all three with efficiency en route to a .455 hitting percentage, five aces and other heated serves that wreaked havoc with the Warriors' passing. Leading the way were Cala (26 kills, .639, one ace) and Perez (23 kills, .529, one ace).
Only one BYU attacker hit under .350, while Hawaii struggled to hit .244 as a team. Having the most success was freshman middle Matt Rawson, who had seven kills with one error in 16 swings (.375), but inconsistent passing prevented Beckwith from going to his middles more often.
Hawaii hit a solid .429 in winning Game 1 and committed no hitting errors after it was tied at 18. A kill by Clar broke a 20-all tie and the Warriors rolled out to a 28-23 lead, helped by two kills each by Hakala and senior middle Dio Dante.
Hakala's sixth kill gave Hawaii game point at 29-25, but BYU gained some momentum by holding off three game points to close to 29-28. Clar's sixth kill finally ended it, but the Cougars were just warming up.
One key to BYU's comeback was a change of setters, with freshman Yamil Perez -- recuperating from a rolled ankle that had him missing a match -- in for Brian Congelliere.
MPSF standings
|
Conference |
Overall
|
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
W |
L
|
Pepperdine |
11 |
1 |
.917 |
13 |
1
|
UC Irvine |
10 |
3 |
.769 |
16 |
3
|
UCSB |
10 |
4 |
.714 |
12 |
5
|
BYU |
6 |
3 |
.667 |
10 |
4
|
UCLA |
8 |
6 |
.571 |
10 |
7
|
CSU Northridge |
6 |
5 |
.545 |
8 |
8
|
Pacific |
6 |
6 |
.500 |
8 |
8
|
USC |
4 |
7 |
.363 |
5 |
9
|
Long Beach St. |
3 |
6 |
.333 |
6 |
7
|
Hawaii |
3 |
8 |
.272 |
3 |
10
|
UC San Diego |
1 |
8 |
.111 |
4 |
10
|
Stanford |
1 |
12 |
.077 |
1 |
17 |
Yesterday
BYU def. Hawaii 28-30, 30-22, 30-22, 30-24
Pepperdine def. Pacific, 24-30, 32-30, 30-21, 30-22
USC def. Stanford, 30-28, 27-30, 30-25, 27-30, 15-5
UCLA def. UCSB, 30-28, 30-24, 30-32, 30-19
Today
Hawaii at BYU, 4 p.m. Hawaii time
CSU Northridge at UC Irvine
Long Beach State at UC San Diego
BYU def. Hawaii
28-30, 30-22, 30-22, 30-24
Warriors (3-10, 3-8 MPSF)
|
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Rawson |
4 |
7 |
1 |
16 |
.375 |
0 |
4 |
1
|
Clar |
4 |
17 |
8 |
37 |
.243 |
0 |
1 |
5
|
Hakala |
4 |
15 |
6 |
39 |
.231 |
1 |
2 |
2
|
Beckwith |
4 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
.250 |
1 |
4 |
6
|
Schkud |
4 |
6 |
3 |
21 |
.143 |
1 |
1 |
5
|
Dante |
4 |
6 |
2 |
12 |
.333 |
1 |
5 |
1
|
Grgas |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
0 |
1 |
0
|
Kalima |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
6
|
Carney |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Vanzant |
3 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
.200 |
0 |
3 |
4
|
Totals |
4 |
54 |
21 |
135 |
.244 |
4 |
21 |
30 |
Cougars (10-4, 6-3 MPSF)
|
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Cala |
4 |
26 |
3 |
36 |
.639 |
0 |
3 |
11
|
Santos |
3 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
.200 |
0 |
2 |
2
|
Congelliere |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
0 |
2 |
1
|
Perez, I. |
4 |
23 |
5 |
34 |
.529 |
0 |
2 |
8
|
Holmes |
4 |
10 |
2 |
19 |
.421 |
1 |
6 |
4
|
Stowell |
4 |
19 |
5 |
40 |
.350 |
0 |
1 |
9
|
Cox |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Silva |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
8
|
Sorensen |
3 |
3 |
0 |
6 |
.500 |
0 |
0 |
1
|
Perez, Y. |
3 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
-1.000 |
1 |
1 |
9
|
Stewart |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Totals |
4 |
84 |
19 |
143 |
.455 |
2 |
17 |
53 |
Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Hawaii (3): Hakala 2, Dante. BYU (5): Holmes 2, Cala, Perez, I., Stowell. Assists -- Hawaii (52): Beckwith 50, Clar, Dante. BYU (82): Perez, Y. 54, Congelliere 21, Perez, I. 3, Santos 2, Holmes, Sorensen.
T -- 2:20. Officials -- Les Calles, Daphne Jewkes. A -- 2,771.