Hawaii finishes
sweep of USCThe Warriors defeat the Trojans
behind Azenha's 14 kills
LOS ANGELES >> Bringing out the broom never felt so good.
HAWAII 3 USC 0 NEXT UP
vs. BYU, next Thursday
For the first time in seven matches, Hawaii was able to finish off an opponent with a sweep. The Warriors took just 81 minutes last night to down Southern California 30-18, 30-27, 31-29 last night in front of pro-Hawaii crowd of 400 at North Gym.
The victory was the eighth straight over the Trojans for the Warriors (13-5, 10-4 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation). No. 14 USC fell to 6-14 and 4-9.
Hawaii, which dropped three spots to No. 5 in yesterday's AVCA poll, was to return home today. The Warriors next take on No. 1 BYU March 18 and 20 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Sophomore hitter Pedro Azenha again led the Warriors with 14 kills and added a career-high six aces. He was also in on four of the team's 11 blocks.
"These wins were really important for us," Azenha said. "It was really important to come back from those three (straight) losses. Those were bothering us.
"This league is really equal. I hope the team's confidence will be raised a lot after this. The confidence will be important going into the BYU matches."
Confidence was not a problem in Game 1 for the Warriors, who jumped out to a 9-3 lead and were never threatened. Delano Thomas' ace gave Hawaii its biggest lead at 27-15 and the Warriors finished it off with a 3-1 run.
The momentum traded sides in Game 2. USC first pounded its way to a 15-5 lead. But the Warriors didn't panic, and instead slowly cut into the deficit, helped by a change at setter (senior Kimo Tuyay for freshman Brian Beckwith) and outside hitter (senior Arri Jeschke for sophomore Jose Delgado).
Down 16-7, Jeschke served for five straight points and Azenha for another four in an 11-2 run that helped Hawaii close to 18-17. Three USC hitting errors helped UH take its first lead at 21-20.
The game was tied five times before Thomas blocked Joao Grangeiro to give the Warriors the lead for good at 26-25. Thomas finished off the game with one of his nine kills.
"It was a real nice comeback," Hawaii coach Mike Wilton said. "Kimo and Arri brought some fresh energy and got us back in it. We were pretty machine-like in Game 1 and, in Game 2, we just stalled.
"The guys showed some character and didn't try to get it back all at once and further exacerbate the problem. They just chipped away."
Said Azenha: "I don't know what happened (in Game 2). This has happened before, that we take naps."
Azenha's serve woke up the gym in Game 3 as he served three consecutive aces to give the Warriors a 7-5 lead. Hawaii led by as much as four at 23-19, only to have the Trojans rally to hold off two match points and tie it at 29.
A kill by Thomas and another block by Thomas on Grangeiro finished it. The Warriors outblocked the Trojans 11-3 and had 11 aces to USC's four.
"It was pretty much the same story as (Monday)," Trojan coach Turhan Douglas said, "although it was more Pedro tonight. He went back and served us off the court. We couldn't handle the heat that Pedro and Delano put on their serves. Our team has not seen anything like that this year.
"After they lost to Northridge (twice last week), I expected them to step it up. They are a better team than Northridge (a team USC swept on Feb. 11). Hawaii is an extremely talented team and probably the most athletic team in the country."
Blake Tippett led USC with 14 kills and two aces. Grangeiro, a roommate of Azenha on the Brazilian junior national team, was held to seven kills and hit .214.
Wilton said he was pleased with his middle attack, with Mauli'a LaBarre putting down eight of his nine swings (.889) and Josh Stanhiser six of eight (.625).
"Both Brian and Kimo found our middles well," Wilton said. "Kimo especially was instrumental in righting the ship. He was a calming influence.
"This was not an easy win. Some of our guys ran out of gas at the end. We're ready to come home."
Hawaii def. USC
30-18, 30-27, 31-29
WARRIORS (13-5, 10-4)
TROJANS (6-14, 4-9)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Tuyay 2 1 0 2 .500 0 0 2 Delgado 2 0 1 2 -.500 0 1 2 Jeschke 2 3 0 5 .600 0 0 4 Beckwith 2 1 0 1 1.000 0 1 0 Reft 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 3 Azenha 3 14 8 26 .231 1 3 5 Bender 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 LaBarre 3 8 0 9 .889 2 3 0 Thomas 3 9 4 21 .238 1 2 0 Stanhiser 3 6 1 8 .625 0 4 1 Totals 3 42 14 74 .378 4 14 17
g k e att pct. bs ba d Barron 2 1 1 2 .000 0 0 0 Bailey 3 6 3 12 .250 0 1 0 Gilmour 3 2 0 3 .667 0 0 2 Tippett 3 14 6 26 .308 0 0 1 Leal 3 3 6 15 -.200 0 0 2 Altamura 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Grangeiro 3 7 4 14 .214 0 2 2 Gallagher 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Burden 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 3 McKniff 3 6 2 8 .500 1 1 0 Totals 3 39 22 80 .213 1 4 10
Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Hawaii (11): Azenha 6, Jeschke 2, Beckwith 1, LaBarre 1, Thomas 1. USC (4): Grangeiro 2, Tippett 2. Assists -- Hawaii (40): Tuyay 22, Beckwith 14, Delgado 1, Jeschke 1, LaBarre 1, Reft 1. USC (37): Gilmour 23, Altamura 10, Bailey 1, Leal 1, McKniff 1, Tippett 1.
T -- 1:21. Officials --JohnMartin, Scott Hogue. A--400.
MPSF Standings
Conference Overall Team W L Pct. W-L BYU 11 1 .917 13-3 Long Beach St 10 3 .769 15-4 UCLA 10 3 .769 16-3 Hawaii 10 4 .714 13-5 CSU Northridge 8 5 .615 13-6 Pepperdine 7 4 .636 11-4 UCSB 6 7 .462 10-8 UC Irvine 4 9 .308 8-12 USC 4 9 .308 6-14 Stanford 4 10 .288 7-12 UC San Diego 2 11 .154 6-13 Pacific 2 12 .143 4-15
Today
Long Beach State at UC Irvine
UCLA at UC San Diego
UC Santa Barbara at CSU Northridge
Tomorrow
x-UC Santa Cruz at Pacific
Friday's matches
UCLA at Long Beach State
Pepperdine at BYU
UC Irvine at UC San Diego
IPFW at UC Santa Barbara
MPSF Standings
Conference Overall Team W L Pct. W-L BYU 11 1 .917 13-3 Long Beach St 10 3 .769 15-4 UCLA 10 3 .769 16-3 Hawaii 10 4 .714 13-5 CSU Northridge 8 5 .615 13-6 Pepperdine 7 4 .636 11-4 UCSB 6 7 .462 10-8 UC Irvine 4 9 .308 8-12 USC 4 9 .308 6-14 Stanford 4 10 .288 7-12 UC San Diego 2 11 .154 6-13 Pacific 2 12 .143 4-15
Today
Long Beach State at UC Irvine
UCLA at UC San Diego
UC Santa Barbara at CSU Northridge
Tomorrow
x-UC Santa Cruz at Pacific
Friday's matches
UCLA at Long Beach State
Pepperdine at BYU
UC Irvine at UC San Diego
IPFW at UC Santa Barbara
