UH gangs up on Lions

The Warriors use their depth to blow away Penn State in three

SPEED and balance. It's a lethal combination for a volleyball offense.

It was exactly the 1-2 punch that Hawaii needed when knocking out Penn State last night in the 12th Outrigger Hotels Invitational Tournament.

HAWAII 3 PENN STATE 0 NEXT UP vs. Ohio State tonight

Matt Carere and Lauri Hakala each had 15 kills to help the Warriors over the Nittany Lions 30-19, 30-21, 34-32 in front of 2,196 (3,566 tickets) at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The seventh-ranked Warriors (2-1) take on No. 9 Ohio State (6-0) in tonight's second match at 7. Yesterday, the Buckeyes stunned No. 5 UCLA in 105 minutes, outblocking the Bruins 9-3 in a 30-27, 32-30, 30-28 victory.

The struggling Bruins (2-3) will try to end a rare three-match losing skid when facing the Nittany Lions (1-2) in today's 4 p.m. opener.

"Great balance, look at the scoreboard, it's pretty spread out," Carere said.

So spread out that five of six UH players served for match point. Setter Brian Beckwith served for what would be the last "aloha ball," with Hakala putting down his final kill to end it after 1 hour and 45 minutes.

"I had so many options tonight and it makes my job so much easier," Beckwith said. "The passing tonight was incredible and it opens up opportunities for all our hitters.

"We need to have that same ball control and continue serving just as tough against Ohio State."

Penn State took a while to get used to Hawaii's quick attack, finally settling down in Game 3. A combination of a new Warrior lineup, including a switch to freshman setter Sean Carney for Beckwith, and newfound patience by the Nittany Lions made for a tight Game 3.

"We began to settle down in Game 3, serving and passing a lot better," Penn State sophomore setter Luke Murray said. "They run a quick attack, but we just have to go out and play, have some fun."

The Nittany Lions didn't have much to celebrate until Game 3, enjoying a lead most of the way. Beckwith returned with the Warriors trailing at 21-17 and it took until Eric Kalima's ace for Hawaii to regain the lead at 27-26.

Two blocks put the Lions ahead at 28-27 only to have Hakala put down a kill for what would be the first of five ties. Penn State held off four match points but couldn't stop Hakala on the fifth to end it.

Nate Meerstein and Matt Anderson each had eight kills to lead PSU.

Ohio State 3, UCLA 0

Pete Hanson has been waiting a long time for this. A very long time.

The Buckeye coach had never beaten the Bruins either as a player at Ball State or in his 21 previous years with OSU. The Buckeye program also had never defeated UCLA in 14 meetings dating back to 1970.

Thanks to 14 kills by Mark Greaves and 13 from Stuart Katz, Ohio State and Hanson both ended their droughts.

"It's big, it's really big," said Hanson, whose senior season was ended by the Bruins in 1979. "We have a bunch of guys who are playing hard together and for one another.

"I told them in the locker room (prior to the match) that if you don't quit and play hard, good things are going to happen."

It happened so quickly that fans arriving after 6 p.m. missed history. The Bruins have now lost nine straight games, dropping the last three at Long Beach State and being swept by UC Irvine and Ohio State.

"That was how we've been playing the past three matches," said UCLA coach Al Scates. "We were playing pretty good in fall and we're not back to where we were."

The Bruins' lineup today is expected to include junior opposite Steve Klosterman, who hasn't played since his offseason shoulder surgery, and libero Eric Chaghouri, who earned praise from Scates with his passing after replacing All-American Tony Ker in Game 3.

Damien Scott led UCLA with 14 kills.

Hawaii def. Penn State 30-19, 30-21, 34-32

NITTANY LIONS (1-2)

	g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
O'Dell	2	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Proper	3	6	3	25	.120	0	3	8
Gutor	2	7	6	21	.048	0	3	4
Meerstein	3	8	1	20	.350	0	2	3
Holt	3	3	0	5	.600	1	4	1
Anderson	3	8	1	23	.304	1	2	5
Masterson	1	0	0	1	.000	0	0	0
Wentzel	2	4	2	9	.222	0	0	2
Smith	3	0	0	0	.000	0	0	8
Price	1	0	1	1	-1.000	0	0	0
Sweitzer	1	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Stauffer	1	0	0	0	.000	0	0	1
Murray	3	4	0	6	.667	0	2	2
Totals	3	40	14	111	.234	2	16	34

WARRIORS (2-1)

	g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
Klinger	3	6	3	11	.273	0	3	3
Delgado	2	10	2	18	.444	0	0	8
Hakala	3	15	4	28	.393	0	3	12
Carere	3	15	4	31	.355	0	3	5
Beckwith	3	2	2	4	.000	0	2	3
Dante	3	6	4	12	.167	0	3	1
Clar	1	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Kalima	1	6	0	15	.400	0	0	2
Carney	3	1	1	3	.000	0	0	2
Reft	3	0	0	0	.000	0	0	12
La Barre	1	0	1	1	-1.000	0	0	0
Totals	3	61	21	123	.325	0	14	48

Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.

Aces -- PSU (1): Proper. Hawaii (4): Hakala 2, Carere, Kalima. Assists -- PSU (39): Murray 33, Wentzel 2, O'Dell, Gutor, Meerstein, Stauffer. Hawaii (55): Beckwith 40, Carney 8, Reft 4, La Barre, Carere, Hakala.

T -- 1:45. Officials -- Ernie Ho, Dan Hironaka. A -- 2,196.