CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Brennon Dyer went for a kill against BYU during last night's match at the Stan Sheriff Center. UH began its final homestand of the season by falling to the No. 3-ranked Cougars.
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Cougars fend off Warriors
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What a difference a few weeks make.
Prior to last night's match with Brigham Young, the stat monitors in the Stan Sheriff Center still had the result up from Hawaii's last home appearance. It reflected the March 15 sweep of UC Irvine, when Jim Clar had a match-high 13 kills and Matt Rawson had seven kills and seven blocks in one of the Warriors' best outings of the season.
With Clar and Rawson out due to injury last night, Hawaii's revamped lineup just didn't have enough to pull off an upset. Led by Ivan Perez's 15 kills, the third-ranked Cougars defeated No. 13 Hawaii for the third consecutive time, winning 30-26, 30-28, 24-30, 30-27.
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CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM
Sean Carney, Steven Grgas and Jake Schkud teamed up last night for this block against Brigham Young.
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Both had so much to play for -- Hawaii to stay in contention for a playoff berth, BYU to stay in contention for the league title.
Last night, experience won out. The third-ranked Cougars, with senior Ivan Perez's 15 kills leading a balanced attack, moved into a tie for the lead in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men's volleyball standings with Cal State Northridge.
A Stan Sheriff Center turnstile crowd of 1,332 (2,667 tickets) saw No. 3 BYU turn back No. 13 Hawaii 30-26, 30-28, 24-30, 30-27 to improve to 20-4 overall, 15-4 MPSF. The loss, the Warriors' third straight, dropped them to 10-14 and 7-12.
Hawaii needs to win tonight's 7 p.m. rematch to keep alive its slim playoff hopes. It's the Warriors' home finale as well as senior night for their lone senior, Jake Schkud.
Freshman Joshua Walker finished with a career-high 29 kills for Hawaii, which outblocked BYU 14-9. Steven Grgas was in on eight blocks and Walker seven.
"We've got to come out fast when we play, not get down like we did," Walker said. "We've got to come out faster tomorrow otherwise the season's not going to last much longer."
The Warriors, with two matches on the road at Pepperdine next week, know they have their backs against the wall.
"It's so heartbreaking to keep losing close games like this," UH junior setter Sean Carney said. "But for us to come out with such a thrown-together lineup to compete with the No. 3 team in the nation says a lot about our team, a lot about the heart of our team.
"This has been what our season's been like. Coming so close and losing by a couple of points. We need (to win) tomorrow. We'll come out and finish hard. Even though we lost, we saw a lot of our younger guys come in and contribute."
But Hawaii had no answer for BYU's experience and balance. Four Cougars added 10 kills: senior Trent Sorenson, senior Russell Holmes, sophomore Andrew Stewart and senior Jonathan Charette, the latter an all-state player at Pearl City High.
"I think at the end we were siding out at a better clip and were able to get the balls to our middles more," BYU coach Shawn Patchell said. "Hawaii did a real nice job blocking and we had expected a tough game from them.
"I was very pleased with how our bench played."
That included switching setters in Game 4, going with former Saint Louis player Brian Congelliere. The Cougars used 12 players to the Warriors' 10.
Hawaii never led in Game 1, tying it nine times, the last at 18. Kills by Perez and Jeff Robinson helped the Cougars to a 21-18 lead and the Warriors never got closer than 27-25.
Hawaii led for much of Game 2, opening up a 19-15 margin on a kill by Schkud. Charette put down his sixth kill, jump-starting a 5-0 Cougars run that turned the game's momentum.
The Warriors took one-point leads four times down the stretch, the final time at 26-25 on Walker's 12th kill. BYU again went on a run, this one of three straight, to go ahead at 28-26.
Hawaii held, tying it for the 17th time, at 28 on Walker's 13th kill.
Charette answered with his seventh kill to give the Cougars their first swing at game point. BYU ended it when Sorenson and Robinson stuffed Brennon Dyer for a 2-0 lead.
The Warriors came out of the break focused on preventing the sweep. Nemanja Komar replaced Dyer, giving Hawaii quite a spark.
The sophomore opposite had five kills and a serve that danced along the net for an ace that gave the Warriors an 18-14 lead. Hawaii led by as many as five when Steven Grgas and Komar blocked Perez to go ahead 24-19.
This time the Warriors withstood the Cougars' rally attempts. Komar put down his fifth kill for Hawaii's game point and a hitting error by Sorenson gave the Warriors the game and some hope.
Hawaii looked poised to force a Game 5 by taking a late lead of 24-23, but BYU used another 3-0 run to take the lead for good at 26-24.
The Warriors held off one match point on Walker's 29th kill. The Cougars won their third straight match on Sorenson's 10th kill.
"I think our passing broke down at the end," Komar said. "We need to be more skilled in passing. We didn't give up, but they (the Cougars) played very well.
"I think tomorrow night we'll play better."
MPSF standings
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
|
GB |
W-L
|
x-CSU Northridge |
15 |
4 |
.789 |
|
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20-5
|
x-BYU |
15 |
4 |
.789 |
|
|
20-4
|
x-Long Beach State |
14 |
4 |
.778 |
|
1/2 |
19-5
|
x-UCLA |
11 |
8 |
.579 |
|
4 |
16-11
|
Pepperdine |
11 |
8 |
.579 |
|
4 |
12-8
|
Stanford |
9 |
9 |
.500 |
|
5 1/2 |
14-9
|
UC Irvine |
9 |
10 |
.474 |
|
6 |
13-13
|
USC |
9 |
10 |
.474 |
|
6 |
12-13
|
Hawaii |
7 |
12 |
.368 |
|
8 |
10-14
|
UCSB |
6 |
13 |
.316 |
|
9 |
9-15
|
UC San Diego |
5 |
13 |
.278 |
|
9 1/2 |
9-16
|
Pacific |
1 |
17 |
.056 |
|
13 1/2 |
4-20 |
x-clinched MPSF tournament berth
Yesterday
BYU def. Hawaii 30-26, 30-28, 24-30, 30-27
Today
BYU at Hawaii, 7 p.m., Stan Sheriff Center
CSU Northridge at UCLA
Long Beach State at Pacific
UC San Diego at Stanford
Tomorow
UC Irvine at UC Santa Barbara
USC at Pepperdine
Long Beach State at Stanford
UC San Diego at Pacific
BYU def. Hawaii
30-26, 30-28, 24-30, 30-27
Cougars (20-4, 15-4 MPSF)
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct |
d |
bs |
ba |
pts
|
Chilton |
4 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
.250 |
9 |
0 |
2 |
2.0
|
Sorenson |
4 |
10 |
2 |
22 |
.364 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
13.0
|
Perez, I. |
4 |
15 |
11 |
39 |
.103 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
16.0
|
Robinson |
3 |
7 |
1 |
22 |
.273 |
13 |
0 |
1 |
7.5
|
Holmes |
4 |
10 |
2 |
17 |
.471 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
13.5
|
Charette |
4 |
10 |
7 |
30 |
.100 |
7 |
0 |
3 |
13.5
|
Congelliere |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0.0
|
Silva |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
21 |
0 |
0 |
0.0
|
Taylor |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1.00 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1.0
|
Perez, Y. |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.0
|
Stewart |
3 |
10 |
2 |
22 |
.364 |
5 |
0 |
3 |
11.5
|
Justen |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0.0
|
Totals |
4 |
64 |
25 |
158 |
.247 |
68 |
0 |
18 |
78.0 |
Warriors (10-14, 7-12 MPSF)
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct |
d |
bs |
ba |
pts
|
Grgas |
4 |
3 |
2 |
12 |
.083 |
3 |
1 |
7 |
8.5
|
Carney |
4 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
.000 |
13 |
0 |
4 |
4.0
|
Walker |
4 |
29 |
4 |
57 |
.439 |
4 |
0 |
7 |
32.5
|
Frank |
4 |
8 |
1 |
19 |
.368 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
9.5
|
Schkud |
4 |
8 |
6 |
32 |
.062 |
8 |
0 |
2 |
10.0
|
Dyer |
2 |
4 |
5 |
20 |
-.050 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
4.5
|
Cervantes |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
14 |
0 |
0 |
0.0
|
Zemljak |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0.0
|
China |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.00 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.0
|
Komar |
2 |
8 |
1 |
15 |
.467 |
5 |
0 |
2 |
10.0
|
Totals |
4 |
61 |
20 |
158 |
.259 |
54 |
1 |
26 |
79.0 |
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Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct: hitting percentage; d: digs; bs: block solo; ba: block assists; pts: points (kills + blocks + aces)
Aces -- BYU (5): Charette 2, Sorenson, I. Perez, Holmes. Hawaii (4): Grgas, Carney, Schkud, Komar. Assists -- BYU (61): Chilton 49, Congelliere 6, Silva 2, Sorenson, Holmes, Charette, Stewart. Hawaii (58): Carney 53, Cervantes 3, Grgas, Schkud.
T --2:21. Officials -- Wayne Lee, Dickson Chun. A -- 1,332.