StarBulletin.com

Sweet sweep for UH over BYU


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POSTED: Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Just one very manini complaint from Hawaii's side of the net last night.

The Warriors would have liked to have shared history — sweet history — with more fans in the Stan Sheriff Center.

A crowd of 1,084 watched for 2 hours, 9 minutes as Hawaii swept Brigham Young for the first time since 2006, also the last time the Warriors won both Mountain Pacific Sports Federation volleyball contests against the Cougars. Another balanced attack, paced by Jonas Umlauft and Joshua Walker, led the eighth-ranked Warriors to a 30-27, 30-26, 30-25 sweep in the match originally scheduled for Saturday.

The 48-hour delay was more than worth it for Hawaii (10-6), which moved into a tie for fourth place in the MPSF at 6-4. Fourth-ranked BYU (9-6, 7-5), which came into the weekend tied for first, dropped to seventh in the congested standings.

“;It's going to be a long flight home for them,”; said sophomore Steven Hunt, who added 12 kills and was in on three of the team's 9 1/2 blocks. “;We played really well all the way through.

“;This is huge for us. We have a tough road trip ahead and we'll need to take all this momentum on the road with us and see what we can do.”;

The Warriors leave tomorrow for a four-match-in-five-day trip, starting with Cal State Northridge on Friday. But Hawaii will begin to worry about the Matadors at practice today.

“;Any league win is significant, and we just got two,”; Warriors coach Charlie Wade said. “;I thought our defense was a lot better (than Friday). We outdug them after they outdug us, and for us to be able to come back and adjust to what they were doing was the difference.

“;No question our middles played well tonight. We're getting some nice balance. We're not just a one-headed monster.”;

Senior middles Matt Rawson and Steven Grgas combined for 10 kills with just two errors on 22 swings. Both were in on four blocks as well.

Robby Stowell led BYU with 12 kills and Andrew Stewart added 11. Kauai High product Futi Tavana wasn't as dominant as Friday, but was very effective when he got the ball, with nine kills and no errors in 12 attempts.

Senior libero Ric Cervantes had 11 digs as UH outdug BYU, the MPSF's dig leader, 41-33. The Warriors also had six aces against eight serving errors, while the Cougars had just one ace — their only one of the series — with 15 errors.

Both sides started out Set 1 very efficient, with each team hitting over .400 with just three errors apiece. There were six ties, with the Warriors breaking the last (22-22) during a 5-0 run that put them ahead for good at 25-22.

Hawaii took set point on BYU's sixth service error, but needed three swings to finish it, getting it done on Umlauft's sixth kill.

The Warriors, who had six aces Friday, had three in their first four serves in taking a 5-1 lead. Nejc Zemljak continued his serving magic against the Cougars, picking up his third ace of the set —seventh of the series — when his serve hit the tape and dribbled over for a 12-8 margin.

The Warriors increased their lead to as many as six before the Cougars changed setters. Behind Yamil Perez — and helped by a missed net violation on BYU — the Cougars pulled to within 21-20.

BYU never got any closer than one the rest of the way. At 24-23, Walker sailed in from behind the 3-meter line on an “;X”; play for his 10th kill, sparking a 3-0 spurt that gave the Warriors a 27-23 cushion.

Hawaii took set point on Umlauft's 10th kill and, one sideout later, BYU's 10th serving error gave the Warriors a 2-0 lead.

The last time the Warriors took both matches from the visiting Cougars, Zemljak was in Slovenia. Last night, he was living on the service line, serving three times as Hawaii took the lead for good at 14-10.

That string included consecutive stuffs of Kent Tuttle, sending the senior opposite — who had been warned for excessive celebration moments earlier — to the bench permanently.

As had happened all match, the Cougars made late charges. And, as happened all match, the Warriors answered every time.

BYU closed to within 27-24 behind three consecutive kills from Stowell, but the Cougars simply ran out of room to rally. Hawaii needed just one set point to end it, finishing it off on Walker's final swing.