INVITATIONAL
Hawaii's Brian Beckwith and Dio Dante blocked a Penn State kill attempt last night.
Warriors warm up
Penn State’s veterans failed to
put away Hawaii's patchwork
lineup last night
Sometimes controlled chaos can be a good thing.
Hawaii, a team searching for a lineup and an identity, baffled a veteran Penn State team early last night at the Stan Sheriff Center, then pulled together late.
Jose Delgado had 20 kills and Pedro Azenha added 18 to give the Warriors a 30-21, 30-28, 24-30, 38-40, 15-8 victory in the second match of the 11th Outrigger Hotels Volleyball Invitational at the Stan Sheriff Center.
A crowd of 2,360 (3,945 tickets) saw the Warriors avenge a five-game loss to the Nittany Lions in this event last year and ran Hawaii's record against Penn State to 11-2.
Penn State (0-1) will take on defending NCAA champion BYU (1-0) in today's 4 p.m. match. The Cougars outlasted Lewis 30-26, 30-32, 34-32, 32-30 in 2 hours and 22 minutes, getting a match-high 18 kills from Victor Batista in the tournament opener.
Hawaii (1-0) continues its quest for a fifth Outrigger title when it faces Lewis (0-1) in tonight's second match.
"I thought our passing came through at the end," Hawaii sophomore setter Brian Beckwith said. "It showed in how we were able to spread the offense out.
"We're still working out some kinks."
Injuries and an academic problem had the Warriors experimenting for most of the 2 hours and 39 minutes. UH coach Mike Wilton had been wanting to get two of his most effective weapons -- opposites Azenha and Bender -- in the same lineup, although both play the same position.
It worked for a while, until Bender's bursitis caught up with him in Game 4.
In came Lauri Hakala, who is recovering from a sprained ankle. Hawaii's M*A*S*H unit couldn't finish it, but Hakala did bring in some much-needed energy.
Jose Delgado of Hawaii blasted a kill past Penn State's Nate Meerstein and Matt Proper last night.
Gutor again hit long, but the Warriors were called for a net violation, tying it at 38-38. The Lions used a hitting error and a net violation by Delgado to win it.
The Warriors began to pull away in Game 5, getting kills from middles Mauli'a La Barre and Dio Dante to take control at 11-5. Penn State fended off two match points before Azenha and La Barre teamed to stuff Matt Proper.
Bender added 12 kills and La Barre 11. Penn State had all five of its hitters in double-figure kills, led by Gutor and Nate Meerstein with 15. Proper added 14, Kevin Wentzel 13 and Keith Kowal 10.
"I thought Hakala was a real key to our comeback," Warriors coach Mike Wilton said. "And Bender was big-time early on, with 10 kills and hitting .421 (through Game 2). He struggled, maybe tried to do too much, but we were able to bring in Hakala.
"I thought we took a nice step forward tonight."
Hawaii was out-blocked 17.5-11, but Penn State did not record a block in Game 5. UH had two, including the match-ender.
"Beckwith did a great job and he did some things in Game 5 that he didn't do all match," Penn State coach Mark Pavlik said. "And Alfred (UH libero Reft) had some outstanding plays to keep things alive for them.
"We played well enough to win and it could have gone either way. I think I've figured out that we play well between midnight and 1:30 a.m. our time (7 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Hawaii time). I guess our curfew is at 2."
BYU 3, Lewis 1: The rematch of last year's national semifinal had the same outcome, a Cougar victory. But it was a sloppy win, with the teams combining for 44 service errors, 23 by BYU.
"The good thing is we know we'll get better," Cougar coach Tom Peterson said. "I'm a little concerned with some of the things we did out there, particularly our ball control.
"They (the Flyers) kept us in it by missing their serves. We need to grow a ton, improve our passing. If we're consistent with passing, it will solve a lot of problems."
Lewis had its chances, with big leads in Games 3 and 4, but missed serves proved fatal. The Flyers had no service errors en route to taking a 25-21 lead in Game 3; they had three to help the Cougars pull to 27-25.
Lewis held off four game points, the last when a BYU illegal substitution tied it at 32-32. The Flyers' four service errors gave the Cougars a fifth try at ending it; Batista did it by putting down his 10th kill.
"I don't feel bad about how we played, but I do feel bad that we could have beat them," first-year Lewis coach Dan Friend. "We have nothing to lose this season. We may not be able to be there at the end (in the final four) but we want to prove that we deserve to be there."
After an internal investigation regarding recruiting violations, Lewis vacated its 2003 national title. Self-imposed sanctions include a ban from this year's NCAA tournament.
The Flyers will be allowed to compete in their conference tournament "and our goal is to win it," Friend said.
"It's disappointing with it being my last year," Lewis senior hitter Jeff Soler said. "I was looking forward to (the final four). Now, we have no set finish line.
"What we need to do tomorrow (against Hawaii) is to minimize the errors. I love playing here, it's the greatest place to play, and I feel that my game goes to another level."
Soler had a team-high 15 kills, while Enrique Escalante and Jared Dayton add 12 kills each. Dayton had three of the Flyers' seven aces.
Michael Burke had 15 kills and was in on five blocks for the Cougars. Taylor Evans served four of BYU's nine aces.
Hawaii def. Penn St.
30-21, 30-28, 24-30, 38-40, 15-8
Nittany Lions (0-1) g k e att pct. bs ba d O'Dell 5 3 0 4 .750 0 3 11 Proper 5 14 7 35 .200 0 8 2 Wentzel 5 13 10 35 .086 0 5 2 Gutor 5 15 8 32 .219 1 2 5 Meerstein 5 15 2 28 .464 1 8 1 Kowal 5 10 3 24 .292 0 5 2 Vogel 5 0 0 0 .000 0 0 8 Fernandez 5 0 0 0 .000 0 0 2 Walthall 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Smith 5 0 1 2 -.500 0 0 3 Totals 5 70 31 160 .244 2 31 37 Warriors (1-0) g k e att pct. bs ba d Delgado 5 20 9 37 .297 1 1 9 Beckwith 5 1 1 3 .000 0 2 5 Azenha 5 18 11 43 .163 1 3 6 Bender 4 12 6 34 .176 0 0 2 La Barre 5 11 3 19 .421 1 4 1 Dante 5 6 2 12 .333 0 3 2 Hakala 2 5 0 6 .833 1 1 2 Reft 5 0 0 0 .000 0 0 16 Schkud 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Rasay 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Totals 5 73 32 154 .266 4 14 44 Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Penn St. (2): O'Dell, Gutor. Hawaii (7): Bender 2, La Barre 2, Dante, Azenha, Delgado. Assists -- Penn St. (69): O'Dell 64, Vogel 5. Hawaii (69): Beckwith 64, Delgado 3, Hakala, Reft.
T -- 2:39. A --3,945.
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