WARRIOR VOLLEYBALL
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Pepperdine's J.D. Schleppenbach put down a kill past the defense of Hawaii's Lauri Hakala, left, Matt Rawson and Matt Vanzant during yesterday's match at the Stan Sheriff Center.
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Pepperdine makes it 2 in a row over UH
Sometimes the simplest things are the hardest.
One kill. One block. One ace.
Anything that would have stopped the bleeding.
At 21-13 in Game 4, all Hawaii had to do was trade sideouts against Pepperdine. Force a Game 5 and then see what happened.
The Warriors will never know.
The top-ranked Waves came back with a vengeance, using a 17-7 run to finish off yesterday's Mountain Pacific Sports Federation volleyball match 28-30, 30-19, 30-28, 30-28 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
An afternoon crowd of 1,710 (3,339 tickets issued) saw Pepperdine (16-1, 13-1 MPSF) win its 13th straight, tying a school record, after 2 hours and 19 minutes. Hawaii, losing its fourth in a row, fell to 3-13 and 3-11.
For the 14th-ranked Warriors, this one will hurt. Even more than setter Brian Beckwith's finger that was dislocated early in Game 4.
"It's a sign of our streaky play, the roller coaster we've been on all season," said Beckwith, who had to pop his knuckle back in after a collision with teammate Eric Kalima. "We play well one game, get crushed the next, then play well again. We've got to steady out.
"I thought for sure we were having a Game 5. We're pretty much the last-place team going against No. 1. But we thought we could beat them all the way. Just because we're losing doesn't mean we don't think we're a good team. But we definitely need some wins."
And quickly. Hawaii, mired in 10th place, may need to win out just to make the eight-team MPSF tournament. The Warriors get a shot this coming week when hosting Northridge (12-9, 7-6) next Friday and Saturday.
One positive from yesterday is that Hawaii may have found an answer to its passing problems. Freshman Ric Cervantes (match-high 13 digs) replaced Kalima at libero, with Kalima moving to left-side hitter.
The Warriors also got a career-high 24 kills from freshman hitter Matt Vanzant. Senior opposite Lauri Hakala added 16 kills and had two of the team's seven aces.
Leading the way for the Waves was sophomore Paul Carroll with 23 kills, including five of his team's last seven. J.D. Schleppenbach added 16 and Jon Grobe 12.
Grobe (Iolani '02) ended Game 2 with an ace and Game 3 with his 11th kill. He was the final Pepperdine server in Game 4 as the Waves scored four straight to gain match point a 29-25.
"All I was thinking was to keep my serve in," Grobe said. "(During the timeout) at 21-14, we looked at each other, saying if we can't get this game then we need to get some momentum for Game 5.
"We got a little closer and pretty soon it picked up," he added. "The blocks were the big turnaround, the momentum turned around."
At 21-14, the Warriors were hitting .714 with just one error. They got stuffed on five of their next six attempts as Pepperdine pulled to within 22-20. Carroll put down a kill for a 25-25 tie and Vanzant answered with a kill for what would be Hawaii's last lead at 26-25.
"That's a tribute to Pepperdine's resiliency," Hawaii coach Mike Wilton said. "We got stuck in one rotation and that's something we have got to be more efficient at, siding out."
Credit Pepperdine's defense, too.
"They had really good defense at the end," Vanzant said. They filled the holes.
"They started making plays and we started making errors. All of a sudden ... boom."
Pepperdine def. Hawaii
28-30, 30-19, 30-28, 30-28
Waves (16-1, 13-1 MPSF)
|
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Gaudino |
4 |
9 |
4 |
21 |
.238 |
0 |
11 |
0
|
Schleppenbach |
4 |
16 |
8 |
30 |
.267 |
0 |
2 |
5
|
Grobe |
4 |
12 |
3 |
23 |
.391 |
0 |
2 |
7
|
Carroll |
4 |
23 |
10 |
53 |
.245 |
1 |
8 |
11
|
Hulse |
4 |
4 |
0 |
11 |
.364 |
0 |
4 |
1
|
Winder |
4 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
.250 |
0 |
3 |
12
|
Sutherland |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
11
|
Parfitt |
4 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1.000 |
0 |
3 |
1
|
Totals |
4 |
67 |
26 |
143 |
.287 |
1 |
33 |
48
|
Warriors (3-13, 3-11 MPSF)
|
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Rawson |
4 |
7 |
3 |
14 |
.286 |
0 |
1 |
1
|
Kalima |
4 |
5 |
6 |
17 |
-.059 |
0 |
3 |
8
|
Hakala |
4 |
16 |
8 |
51 |
.157 |
0 |
2 |
6
|
Beckwith |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
5 |
10
|
Dante |
4 |
7 |
1 |
15 |
.446 |
0 |
9 |
2
|
Vanzant |
4 |
24 |
8 |
44 |
.364 |
0 |
3 |
5
|
Clar |
2 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Carney |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Cervantez |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
13
|
Schkud |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Totals |
4 |
62 |
29 |
147 |
.224 |
0 |
23 |
45 |
Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Pepperdine (7): Carroll 4, Schleppenbach, Grobe, Hulse. Hawaii (7): Hakala 2, Dante 2, Beckwith, Vanzant, Carney. Assists -- Pepperdine (63): Winder 56, Grobe 3, Gaudino 2, Hulse, Sutherland. Hawaii (61): Beckwith 58, Cervantez 3.
T -- 2:19. Officials -- Dan Hironaka, Ernie Ho. A --1,710.
MPSF Standings
|
Conference |
Overall
|
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
W |
L
|
Pepperdine |
13 |
1 |
.929 |
16 |
1
|
UC Irvine |
14 |
3 |
.824 |
20 |
3
|
BYU |
11 |
3 |
.786 |
15 |
4
|
UC Santa Barbara |
10 |
7 |
.588 |
14 |
8
|
CSU Northridge |
7 |
6 |
.539 |
12 |
9
|
UCLA |
9 |
8 |
.529 |
12 |
9
|
Pacific |
8 |
8 |
.500 |
12 |
10
|
USC |
5 |
9 |
.357 |
7 |
11
|
Long Beach St. |
6 |
8 |
.429 |
9 |
9
|
Hawaii |
3 |
11 |
.214 |
3 |
13
|
UC San Diego |
2 |
12 |
.143 |
5 |
15
|
Stanford |
2 |
14 |
.125 |
3 |
19 |
Yesterday
Pepperdine def. Hawaii, 28-30, 30-19, 30-28, 30-28
Long Beach state def. Pacific, 30-27, 30-24, 30-26
BYU def. UC Santa Barbara, 30-28, 30-28, 30-26
Stanford def. UC San Diego 30-28, 30-25, 30-25