Warriors fall to Gauchos in road opener

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. » No. 300 is on hold for at least one more night.

Mike Wilton's first shot at his 300th victory as the Hawaii men's volleyball coach fell short last night against UC Santa Barbara. The unranked Gauchos, getting 21 kills from senior middle Theo Brunner and 18 from freshman opposite Jeff Menzel, outlasted the 13th-ranked Warriors 29-31, 30-26, 25-30, 30-21, 15-13 at Robertson Gym.

It took 2 hours and 30 minutes for UCSB (3-6, 2-4 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) to continue its mastery of UH (3--5, 2-3). It was the third consecutive win over the Warriors by the Gauchos and "it was pretty ugly volleyball out there," Wilton said of his team's first road contest. "They were just a little less ugly than we were.

"We got lifts from different players at different times last night. But we just couldn't sustain a steady attack. We lost the serve-serve receive game and when you lose that battle, you aren't going to win the game."

The teams meet again today (5 p.m. Hawaii time).

It was the first road game of the year for Hawaii, which started three freshmen in setter Nejc Zemljak, middle Keali'i Frank and hitter Joshua Walker. Only Walker was on the court at the end of the night, as Wilton substituted freely trying to find a successful combination.

Walker did finish with 18 kills, but had just two after Game 3, sitting out most of Game 4. Zemljak gave way to junior Sean Carney midway through Game 3 and Frank left even earlier when being replaced by sophomore Matt Rawson.

"A lot of substitution was out of necessity," Wilton said. "You'd watch the light bulbs flicker on and off out there.

"Not only was it road game No. 1 for us, it was road game No. 1 period for a lot of our guys. But even our veterans struggled."

The one bright spot was Hawaii's blocking. The Warriors finished with a 24-10.5 edge with sophomore Steven Grgas in on 11 and Rawson in on eight.

Hawaii did stage an impressive comeback in Game 1, holding off three game points after trailing 29-26. Walker put down his eighth kill, then served for four unanswered points, with Clar ending it on a service overpass.

The Gauchos again led at 29-26 in Game 2, but there would be no Hawaii rally. Brenner made good on UCSB's first swing at the game to tie the match.

Momentum swung back to the Warriors in Game 3, sparked by Carney at setter and the play of freshman opposite Brennon Dyer, a Santa Barbara, Calif., native.

Hawaii ran off six straight to turn a 25-24 deficit into a 30-25 win. Behind the serving of senior Jake Schkud, the Warriors used two kills by Clar and two blocks to help finish it out.

As has happened a few times this season, UH got stuck in a bad rotation. It occurred early in Game 4 as UCSB took control with a six-point run that tied a 9-9 tie into a 15-9 lead.

The Warriors closed to 24-19 on an ace by Schkud only to have the Gauchos pull away behind the serves of Cullen Irons.

Game 5 was tied six times, the last at 13-13. Brunner put down his 21st kill and Max Klineman and Scott Slaughter stuffed Clar to end it.

UCSB outdug Hawaii 80-65. Ric Cervantes led the Warriors with 16 digs and Andy McGuire had 20 for the Gauchos.

Wilton wasn't sure what lineup he'd start tonight.

"We'll watch five games worth of video of tonight's match, have a coaches' meeting and then we'll decide," he said.