UCSB rallies past UH in 5

Hawaii blows a two-game lead against the Gauchos

They were conceding points to the top hitter in the country. And that was OK.

Senior All-American Evan Patak was going to get his kills, which he did -- a match-high 32.

UCSB    Hawaii 3 2 Next Up vs. UCSB today

But Hawaii's game plan was to control what they could control. Which was the rest of the UC Santa Barbara offense. Which is what the Warriors couldn't do at the end.

The top blocking team in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation could not trump the top hitting team in the MPSF last night, with No. 4 UC Santa Barbara pulling rank on No. 9 Hawaii 24-30, 28-30, 30-25, 30-28, 17-15 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

A crowd of 1,561 (2,961 tickets) saw the Warriors outblock the Gauchos 25-11.5 in 2 hours and 47 minutes only to lose their fifth straight.

Hawaii (2-7, 3-7) and UCSB (9-3, 7-2) meet again tonight at 7.

"I don't know how we won it," said Gauchos coach Ken Preston, now just two wins away from his career 500th. "We were really out of character in the first two games. They (Hawaii) played very well.

"At the end, maybe it was guts and determination. Who knows? It was real tight. Either team could have won."

But it was the Gauchos who did, putting up a big block at the end, including the match-ender when Theo Brunner stuffed Dio Dante to finish off the comeback. Brunner was in on seven blocks and added 18 kills.

David Kennedy had 10 kills as UCSB regrouped from being swept at home by Pepperdine last week.

Jim Clar led Hawaii with 22 kills, with Lauri Hakala finishing with 14 kills and nine block assists.

Jake Schkud had a career-high 11 kills and Dante tied his career high with 11 block assists.

"We missed way too many serves (19), especially at critical moments," said Hawaii's Matt Rawson, finishing with nine kills and nine block assists.

"We could have won both the third and fourth game, and the fifth. It was a battle.

"Tomorrow, we need to do the same things. Cut down the errors and we've got them."

Hawaii was poised to finish the night in a sweep, leading most of Game 3, and holding a 25-22 edge.

But UCSB rallied behind the serve of Tyson Norton, going on a 4-0 run to take the lead for good. Two kills by Patak and a block of Hakala by Michael Fisher and Brunner forced a Game 4.

The Gauchos held on in a tight Game 4 that saw 18 ties, the last at 28-28. Clar's net serve gave UCSB game point at 29-28 and a net violation by the Warriors pushed it to five.

It was equally tight in Game 5, with it tied five times before Hakala's 13th kill gave Hawaii an 8-7 lead as the teams switched sides.

Patak's 30th kill tied it at 8-8. It would be tied three more times before Patak put down his final kill and Brunner blocked Dante.

"We pretty much defeated ourselves early," said Patak, who had three of his team's five aces.

"We made the adjustments at crucial moments. I don't know. We've been in a lot of five games this year and know how to play them. At the end we limited our errors."

UCSB had 10 kills in Game 5, four by Patak and three by Brunner. The Gauchos are 3-1 in five-game matches, their only loss coming to then-No. 1 UC Irvine.