[ UH VOLLEYBALL ]
With kill leader out,
UH wins at UCSB
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. >> No Pedro? No problem.
The Hawaii volleyball team, playing without kill leader Pedro Azenha, opened the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation season last night with a victory over UC Santa Barbara.
The No. 3 Warriors defeated the No. 9 Gauchos 31-33, 30-25, 30-25, 30-27 in front of 175 at Robertson Gym. Hawaii (2-1, 1-0 MPSF) takes on UCSB (3-2, 0-1) again tonight to conclude the Warriors' first road trip of the season.
HAWAII 3 UCSB 2
NEXT UP
at UCSB, today
Hawaii got career nights from Jose Delgado, who put down 20 kills, and Azenha's replacement at opposite, Matt Bender, who added 14 kills. Delano Thomas also had 14 kills and four of the Warriors' five service aces.
"It was a close match all the way," said Hawaii coach Mike Wilton. "I don't know how good of a match it was, both teams were up and down. But we were good when we needed to be.
"I thought Bender was clutch and so was Delano, especially in Games 2, 3 and 4. He was nailing his serves. And our libero (Alfred Reft) played well."
Reft, who played for UCSB last season, had 12 of the Warriors' 37 digs, while Bender had his first career double-double when he dug 11 balls.
The Gauchos had three players with double-figure kills: Sophomore opposite Evan Patak (20 kills), senior blocker Justin Adams (13) and sophomore hitter Nate Wack (10). UCSB coach Kenny Preston used 13 players and "we weren't expecting him to use so many," said Wilton. "They continued to throw new people in and they were all pretty good. We continually had to adjust."
Wilton's biggest adjustment came at the end of Game 4 when he inserted Maui High product Dio Dante into the lineup late in Game 4. It was the 6-foot-7 Dante's collegiate debut and he put down his first career kill to tie the match at 25-25.
Dante, replacing 6-10 senior Josh Stanhiser, served for one point while Hawaii took a 26-25 lead. A kill by Justin Adams tied it at 26 and the teams traded sideouts and points for a 27-27 tie.
Bender's final kill gave Hawaii the lead for good at 28-27. Thomas' fourth ace gave the Warriors match point and they only needed one swing by Delgado to end it after two hours.
"We brought Dio in to give him a chance to see what he could do," said Wilton. "He made some nice reads on the block. And, at the end, Delano had a nice little service run.
"Our objective (tonight) is to play at a higher level and have a smoother performance."
UCSB had more kills than Hawaii (64-61) and more blocks (12-7 1/2) but the difference came at the service line, where the Gauchos had 24 service errors to the Warriors' 17 with three aces to the Warriors' five.
Hawaii won Game 4 despite not having a single block while UCSB had four. Sophomore middle Mauli'a LaBarre was in on five of the Warriors' blocks and had nine kills, hitting .429.
The Gauchos won Game 1 behind Patak's eight kills. The Warriors rallied to tie it at 28 and the game was tied twice more.
Hawaii took its only swing at game point at 31-30, but a service error by Thomas tied it at 31-all. Patak helped account for UCSB's final two points, teaming with Michael Kennedy on a block and then putting down his eighth kill.
Service runs by LaBarre and Bender helped Hawaii pull away midway through Game 2. The Gauchos closed to 23-22, only to have the Warriors score four straight points, three on Gaucho mistakes. At 29-25, LaBarre and Bender teamed to block Wack to tie the match at one game a piece.
Hawaii controlled most of Game 3, pulling ahead at 26-19 on an ace by Delgado. The Warriors got to game point at 29-23 on Bender's line shot and held off the Gauchos' late rally when LaBarre put down a quick set in the middle.
Hawaii def. UC-Santa Barbara
31-33, 30-25, 30-25, 30-27
Warriors (3-1)
GAUCHOS (3-2)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Delgado 4 20 8 38 .316 0 3 1 Jeschke 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Beckwith 4 1 0 2 .500 0 1 2 Reft 4 0 1 1 -1.000 0 0 12 Bender 4 14 6 29 .276 0 2 11 LaBarre 4 9 3 14 .429 1 4 3 Thomas 4 14 5 24 .375 0 1 6 Dante 2 1 0 2 .500 0 0 0 Stanhiser 4 2 1 4 .250 0 2 2 Totals 4 61 24 114 .325 1 13 37
Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
g k e att pct. bs ba d Kowalski 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Berman 2 0 0 0 .000 0 2 2 Nelson 2 2 2 5 .000 0 0 0 Jansen 3 1 1 4 .000 0 2 3 Patak 4 20 10 35 .286 0 3 2 Ulfers 3 3 3 10 .000 0 2 1 Burdine 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Wack 4 10 4 23 .261 0 3 4 Parra 3 2 2 6 .000 0 0 0 Wiens 4 5 4 16 .062 0 1 1 Mansfield 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 9 Kennedy 4 8 2 18 .333 0 6 1 Adams 4 13 3 20 .500 0 5 1 Totals 4 64 31 137 .241 0 24 24
Aces -- Hawaii (5): Thomas 4, Delgado. UCSB (3): Patak 2, Adams. Assists -- Hawaii (60): Beckwith 58, Reft, Bender. UCSB (55): Jansen 30, Berman 21, Mansfield 2, Wiens, Kennedy.
T -- 2:00. Officials -- Marvin Hall, Rick Olmstead. A--175.
