Warriors collapse in Game 1; Waves go on to sweep
From staff and wire reports
MALIBU, Calif. » To understand how the season has gone for the Hawaii men's volleyball team, one need look no further than Game 1 of last night's Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match against Pepperdine.
The 13th-ranked Warriors led for most of the first 30 minutes at Firestone Fieldhouse, taking a swing for the game at 29-28. As has happened so many times this year, Hawaii simply couldn't finish.
The fifth-ranked Waves scored three unanswered points to take Game 1 and the Warriors had few answers the rest of the night. Pepperdine kept its hopes for hosting an MPSF quarterfinal alive via a 31-29, 30-25, 30-17 victory in 85 minutes.
It was the fifth consecutive loss for Hawaii (10-16, 7-14 MPSF), missing the league playoffs for the first time since 1993, Mike Wilton's first season with UH. The Warriors finish the season with tonight's rematch against the Waves (13-9, 12-9).
"We played really good sideout volleyball in Game 1, maybe the best all year for a sustained full game," Wilton said. "We missed too many serves (eight in Game 1) and that was the difference.
"Then we imploded toward the end. And (Paul) Carroll did tee off."
Carroll, Pepperdine's All-America junior opposite, had a match-high 21 kills. Hurting the Warriors just as much was the Waves' serving: Pepperdine had eight aces, five by Mark Hulse.
Senior opposite Jake Schkud led the Warriors with 12 kills while setter-turned-hitter Sean Carney and freshman hitter Joshua Walker added 11 each. For one of the few times this season, Hawaii was outblocked, losing that battle 9.5-5.5.
Schkud had the Warriors cruising at 26-22 in Game 1 with seven kills in eight attempts. The Waves tied it at 26, helped by three kills from Carroll.
A kill by Walker gave Hawaii what would be its only game point of the night at 29-28. Carroll tied it with his seventh kill and, after Schkud hit long for his first hitting error, Pepperdine picked up its first block of the night when J.D. Schleppenbach and Hulse teamed to stuff Schkud for the 31-29 win.
Hulse helped the Waves break open a tight Game 2, serving for thr
MPSF standings
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
|
GB |
W-L |
x-BYU |
17 |
4 |
.809 |
|
-- |
22-4 |
x-Long Beach State |
17 |
4 |
.809 |
|
-- |
22-5 |
x-CSU Northridge |
17 |
4 |
.809 |
|
-- |
22-5 |
x-Pepperdine |
12 |
9 |
.571 |
|
5 |
13-9 |
x-UCLA |
11 |
10 |
.524 |
|
6 |
16-13 |
x-Stanford |
11 |
10 |
.524 |
|
6 |
16-10 |
x-UC Irvine |
11 |
10 |
.524 |
|
6 |
15-13 |
x-USC |
10 |
11 |
.476 |
|
7 |
13-14 |
Hawaii |
7 |
14 |
.333 |
|
10 |
10-16 |
UCSB |
6 |
15 |
.286 |
|
11 |
9-17 |
UC San Diego |
6 |
15 |
.286 |
|
11 |
10-18 |
Pacific |
1 |
20 |
.047 |
|
16 |
4-23 |
x-clinched MPSF Tournament berth
Yesterday
Pepperdine def. Hawaii, 31-29, 30-25, 30-17
Long Beach State def. UCSB, 30-18, 30-25, 30-24
UC Irvine def. Pacific, 30-25, 30-27, 30-22
Stanford def. UCLA, 24-30, 30-27, 30-20, 30-28
CSU Northridge def. UCSD, 30-21, 30-19, 30-24
BYU def. USC, 30-26, 30-24, 30-25
Today
Hawaii at Pepperdine, 4 p.m. Hawaii time
Long Beach State at CSU Northridge
UC Irvine at Stanford
UCLA at Pacific
UC San Diego at UC Santa Barbara
USC at BYUee points as Pepperdine pulled away to a 25-20 lead. The Warriors got as close as three, the last at 28-25, but Carroll finished it off with a kill and an ace.
Hulse had consecutive aces during a 3-0 run that gave Pepperdine an 11-4 lead in Game 3. Hawaii held off one match point at 29-17, only to have Steven Grgas' service error end it.
Wilton said he didn't anticipate any lineup changes for the season finale. Carney will remain on the outside, with freshman Nejc Zemljak setting.
Note
Pepperdine got some help in its quest for the No. 4 seed in the MPSF tournament when Stanford topped UCLA 3-1 last night. The Cardinal got 22 kills from freshman Spencer McLachlin (Punahou '07). Pepperdine would have to lose to Hawaii tonight and UCLA beat Pacific in order for the Bruins to earn the fourth seed and hosting duties.
Pepperdine def. Hawaii
31-29, 30-25, 30-17
warriors (10-16, 7-14 MPSF)
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct |
d |
bs |
ba |
pts |
Grgas |
3 |
5 |
0 |
10 |
.500 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
6.5 |
Carney |
3 |
11 |
6 |
22 |
.227 |
7 |
0 |
1 |
11.5 |
Walker |
3 |
11 |
4 |
23 |
.304 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
13.5 |
Frank |
3 |
6 |
1 |
8 |
.625 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
7.0 |
Schkud |
3 |
12 |
4 |
19 |
.421 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
14.5 |
Zemljak |
3 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
.333 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1.5 |
Cervantes |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
Brizuela |
3 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
-1.000 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1.0 |
Chins |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
Romar |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
Dyer |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
Totals |
3 |
46 |
17 |
88 |
.330 |
22 |
0 |
11 |
55.5 |
Waves (13-9, 12-9 MPSF)
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct |
d |
bs |
ba |
pts |
Jaynes |
3 |
7 |
0 |
8 |
.875 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
9.5 |
Riecks |
1 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
.250 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2.0 |
Schleppenbach |
3 |
8 |
3 |
14 |
.357 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
9.5 |
Carroll |
3 |
21 |
2 |
35 |
.543 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
23.0 |
Winder |
3 |
3 |
0 |
5 |
.600 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
7.5 |
Hulse |
3 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
.667 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
8.0 |
McKee |
3 |
6 |
0 |
12 |
.500 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
6.5 |
Liebert |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1.000 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1.5 |
Crider |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
Grubbs |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
Totals |
3 |
50 |
6 |
82 |
.537 |
21 |
1 |
17 |
67.5 |
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 -- Hawaii (4): Walker 2, Schkud, Brizuela. Pepperdine (8): Hulse 5, Winder 2, Carroll. Assists -- Hawaii (45): Zemljak 41, Carney 2, Schkud 2. Pepperdine (47): Winder 42, Hulse 2, Schleppenbach 2, Grubbs.
T --1:25. Officials --Tony Chan, Scott Hogue. A -- 612.