Warriors blow 2-game lead; loss ends season

IRVINE, Calif. » Mission Possible suddenly turned impossible last night. Turning quietly in Game 3, crashing down loudly the rest of the way.

Hawaii    UC-Irvine 2 3 Next Up Season over

The disappointing thing for Hawaii was not that all the hard work to win its last 10 went for naught. It was how the ninth-ranked Warriors lost last night's Mountain Pacific Sports Federation quarterfinal against No. 3 UC Irvine 26-30, 27-30, 30-23, 30-22, 15-11.

They HAD the match under control. They HAD the Anteaters reeling at home in Crawford Gym, a standing-room only crowd, about a quarter of which was waving ti leaves.

And then it was gone. Not so much a balloon being popped but a balloon where the string comes untied with the only recourse to watch it float away and disappear into the sky.

That was the feeling for Hawaii, which saw its season and playoff hopes disappear in 2 hours and 20 minutes.

Led by defending national player of the year Jayson Jablonsky's 23 kills and a serve that caught fire over the final three games, UCI was able to do something that no team had done since Pepperdine on March 10 ... stop Hawaii.

"I'm not sure where we lost it," said middle Dio Dante, one of four Warrior seniors playing their final match. "They started serving much harder and they stole the momentum. It just seemed we couldn't catch any breaks."

But good teams make their own luck and the Anteaters were both lucky and good. Very good.

UCI began cutting down on service errors, from 10 in Game 1 to eight the rest of the night. Their block came alive against the top blocking team in the MPSF, with a 7.5-3 edge over the last two games.

And they did it with a balanced attack that was just as quick as Hawaii's. Senior opposite Matt Webber, yanked for a while in Game 2, came back for 18 kills; senior middle David Smith added 16 kills, hitting .464; and sophomore hitter Taylor Wilson added 12 kills with 11 digs.

"It was heartbreaking," Warrior freshman libero Ric Cervantes said, finishing with a match-high 12 digs. "I really wanted to win this for the seniors, for Brian (setter Beckwith), for Dio, for Lauri (opposite Hakala) and Eric (hitter Kalima). We just wanted it so much for them, to keep it going."

The Warriors couldn't after Game 2. And instead of seeing Brigham Young -- a 3-0 winner over Cal State Northridge -- in Thursday's semifinal at Pepperdine, Hawaii was looking at an early drive this morning to Los Angeles International.

"I felt like we blew our load early and of course Irvine is a much better team than they showed the first two games," said Hakala, putting down a match-high 25 kills in his aloha performance. "They started playing better and we lost the momentum, never really got it back.

"But I'm super proud of our guys, turned around the season, got here. We believed we could go all the way."

Hawaii obviously was not the team UCI handled early in the season, when the Anteaters swept the Warriors here in mid-January. The Anteaters remembered all too well how last season turned, from being top-ranked to losing first in the MPSF semifinals then the NCAA semifinals.

"I was concerned before the match about how we've done in the playoffs," UCI coach John Speraw said. "Hawaii came out and played phenomenal. We had to be patient. The guys stayed patient and pulled it out.

"Momentum is such a huge part of this game and honestly it's hard to fully understand. It's hard when you come out and are playing that well to sustain it. When you're playing good teams, they're going to come back and challenge you. We were able to challenge UH. There were a couple plays (in Game 3) and we were fortunate to get them. And being home was huge, the way we played in Game 4 set us up for Game 5."