Warriors sweep hapless Tritons

LA JOLLA, Calif. » There's been a hunger on Hawaii's side of the volleyball court the past few weeks. A hunger, according to senior setter Brian Beckwith, that will only be sated by winning.

Hawaii    UC San Diego 3 0 Next Up at UC San Diego, today

Last night, the Warriors played like they couldn't wait to get to the postmatch potluck. Their 30-26, 30-18, 30-15 victory over UC San Diego was that quick ... and dominating.

Officially, the box score said it took Hawaii 90 minutes to run its record against UCSD to 36-0. The Warriors supporters at the RIMAC Arena agree it was closer to 75, including timeouts.

Led by senior Lauri Hakala's 13 kills and senior middle Dio Dante's 11 blocks, No. 13 Hawaii won its fifth consecutive match, all sweeps. The win improved the Warriors' record to 8-13 overall, 6-11 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

More importantly, Hawaii moved into a tie for ninth with Long Beach State (11-12, 6-11), a game behind eighth-place USC. The top eight teams advance to the MPSF tournament.

"But all that matters is who we play next," Warriors coach Mike Wilton said. "The rest will take care of itself."

While Hawaii again faces UCSD (5-18, 2-15) today (4 p.m. Hawaii time), Long Beach State again is at third-place BYU.

The Warriors took a while to warm up last night, trailing in Game 1 by as many as four at 23-19. Hawaii's MPSF-leading block stuffed the Tritons three times, and freshman Ernie Vidinha had two of his seven kills as the Warriors went on a 10-2 run in gaining game point.

UCSD held off one attempt, closing to 29-26, but not another. Hawaii took Game 1 on a Tritons service error and controlled the rest of the night.

The Warriors finished hitting a season-high .479, with just three hitting errors after Game 1. Hakala had no hitting errors in 17 swings for an impressive .765, adding a team-high five digs before yielding to sophomore Jim Clar late in Game 3.

During Matt Rawson's 7-0 serving run in Game 3 that gave Hawaii a 23-9 lead, Wilton cleared his bench. All 12 Warriors who made the trip played.

"It's really special when you can get everyone in," Wilton said. "I thought, with the exception of the first two-thirds of Game 1, we played pretty well. They were kind of taking it to us and I don't know what it was.

"But we finally got out of the deep end of the pool and got enthused. We've finally got a lineup that works. Tomorrow, we want to come ready to roll again."

Vidinha, who replaced Matt Vanzant midway through Game 1, finished with seven kills and hit .417. He was also in on six blocks. Hawaii outblocked UCSD 17-1.

UCSD freshman hitter Will Ehrman (Punahou '06) had 10 kills, but hit just .083. The Tritons hit .082 as a team and were outdug 21-17.