MALIBU, Calif. >> It was not the way the Hawaii volleyball team wanted to conclude its final road trip of the season. UH meets match
at the end of long tripFrom staff and wire reports
In front of a boisterous crowd of 1,475 at Firestone Fieldhouse, second-ranked Pepperdine defeated third-ranked Hawaii, 30-22, 30-23, 30-32, 30-25, for the second night in a row.
It is the first time this season that the Warriors have lost two consecutive matches as Hawaii slips to 15-6 overall and 12-4 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Pepperdine (20-4, 15-2) moves into first place ahead of idle UCLA.
"We were hoping for a different result tonight," Hawaii coach Mike Wilton said. "I liked the way we fought. We never gave up. Game 3 was quite a battle.
"Pepperdine upgraded from the first night. They played a lot better and all of their outsides were really hitting well. They were pretty tough. They're good enough that they can hit the whole court with authority."
Outside hitters Lance Walker, Sean Rooney and Fred Winters seemed almost unstoppable and they gave Hawaii blockers fits. The Warriors were outblocked 14 1/2 to 6 1/2.
With the exception of Costas Theocharidis, Hawaii's outside hitters were almost nonexistent. Theocharidis was set 60 times and blasted 29 kills to hit .350. Middle blocker Dejan Miladinovic was the only other Warrior in double digits with 12 kills in 20 swings.
Waves setter Beau Daniels ran another balanced and quick attack with four players in double-digit kills. Pepperdine outhit Hawaii .462 to .286. Walker led the Waves with 21 kills. Rooney added 20 and Winters chipped in 15.
Hawaii trailed all of Game 1, never threatening after Pepperdine scored three points in a row to take an 8-4 lead. The Warriors stayed close in Game 2 until Pepperdine pulled away with a 5-0 run after the score was tied at 11.
"Both games were real similar, Wilton said. "They just jumped our bones at the start. We were playing catch up the whole time."
Hawaii clawed its way back into Game 3 after trailing much of the game, finally winning 32-30 on an ace and a kill by Theocharidis.
With Hawaii down 18-13 in Game 4, Theocharidis picked up the Warriors and put them on his back. The reigning AVCA player of the year scored 10 of the Warriors' next 11 points. Miladinovic pounded his final kill of the match to cut Pepperdine's lead to 28-25, but a missed serve and a block by standout middle blocker Brad Keenan ended the match.
"He said 'Get on my back and follow me.' There's no question," Wilton said. "It was a courageous effort. But we needed some more help outside. What middle attacking we did, we got decent numbers from Brian (Nordberg) and Dejan."
Back-to-back losses to Pepperdine means Hawaii needs to win the rest of its matches and hope that either the Waves or the Bruins pick up a few losses for the Warriors to earn the top seed in the playoffs.
The Warriors return home today and begins the first of six home matches Friday against UC Irvine.
Pepperdine def. Hawaii
30-22, 30-23, 30-32, 30-25.Warriors (15-6, 12-4 MPSF)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Miladinovic 4 12 2 20 .500 1 2 5 Tuyay 4 0 0 0 .000 1 1 1 Zimet 4 8 4 21 .190 0 2 8 Podlewski 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 9 Gleason 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Theocharidis 4 29 8 60 .350 0 0 5 Delgado 3 4 8 15 -.267 0 1 5 Ching 2 3 0 6 .500 0 0 1 Nordberg 4 6 2 11 .364 0 2 0 Rasay 1 0 0 0 .00 0 1 0 Totals 4 62 24 133 .286 2 9 35 Waves (20-4, 15-2 MPSF)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Van Reusen 4 6 3 13 .231 0 4 5 Gledhill 4 0 0 0 .00 0 0 0 Daniels 4 0 0 1 .000 0 4 4 Keenan 4 12 2 20 .500 1 9 1 Winters 4 15 6 31 .290 0 5 6 Walker 4 21 1 35 .571 0 3 6 Rooney 4 20 2 29 .621 0 2 8 Olson 4 0 0 1 .000 0 0 8 Totals 4 74 14 130 .462 1 27 38 Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Hawaii (3): Theocharidis 3. Pepperdine (4): daniels 2, Keenan, Walker. Assists -- Hawaii (58): Tuyay 50, Rasay 3, Gleason, Thepcharidis, Nordberg , Miladinovic, Zimet. Pepperdine (69): Daniels 67, Van Reusen, Olson. T -- 2:00. Officials -- Ken Taylor, Rick Olmstead. A -- 1,475.
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