Warriors beat Bruins for Wilton’s 300th win

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Could it have been any sweeter?

Hawaii    UCLA 3 2 NEXT UP vs. UCLA tonight

Led by the 1-2 punch of Jim Clar (18 kills) and Joshua Walker (13 kills), No. 15 Hawaii upset No. 4 UCLA in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men's volleyball match last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The 25-30, 30-26, 30-24, 26-30, 15-13 victory not only avenged last month's five-game loss to the Bruins but snapped a four-match losing streak to UCLA dating back to the 2006 MPSF playoff that ended Hawaii's season.

The Warriors outblocked the Bruins 10-6 in improving to 4-6 overall, 3-4 in the MPSF.

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Forget the candy. There could be nothing sweeter for Hawaii than beating UCLA.

Especially in five games. Especially when the last time the Bruins were here, they were the ones who walked out of the Stan Sheriff Center with a five-game victory.

Junior hitter Jim Clar put down a team-high 18 kills and freshman Joshua Walker added 13 as the 15th-ranked Warriors upset the No. 4 Bruins 25-30, 30-26, 30-24, 26-30, 15-13 in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match. A crowd of 1,414 (2,656 tickets) saw Hawaii improve to 4-6 overall, 2-4 MPSF, in 2 hours and 40 minutes.

Garrett Muagututia led UCLA (9-5, 6-4) with 21 kills. Sean O'Malley added 14.

"We needed to serve more balls in," UCLA coach Al Scates said of his team's 33 serving errors. "That would have taken care of it."

It was career victory No. 300 for Warrior coach Mike Wilton, his 13th win over the Bruins in 39 matches.

"We needed to win this one," said sophomore middle Steven Grgas, who served for match point. "My only thought about my serve was it had to be in.

"If we had lost this one, it would have been terrible. It could have shut down the whole season. We came back against UCLA and we don't usually come back against teams like that. I couldn't be happier right now."

Hawaii was looking good in Game 5, pulling out to leads of 10-6 and 11-7. But UCLA rallied to tie it at 11, helped by two kills from Ryal Jagd.

It was tied twice more, the last at 13. A Bruin service error gave the Warriors match point and a hitting error by Jagd gave Hawaii the win.

"This was huge, just huge," Warrior libero Ric Cervantes said, finishing with a match-high 16 digs. "It could be season changing for us. We'll see how tomorrow night goes.

"If we have the same intensity, we'll do it again. They're a good team but there was no way we were going to lose. It was a really good team effort tonight."

Hawaii showed the effects of nearly two weeks without a conference match early in Game 1. UCLA took the lead at 9-8 and never was headed, leading by as much as 23-18.

As happened a month ago when playing Hawaii in the Outrigger Hotels Invitational, the Bruins used a balanced attack with Muagututia (6 kills) and D.J. Stromath (4). The Warriors managed just nine kills in the first 22 minutes, with Clar putting down five and Walker three.

Hawaii steadied out in Game 2, getting a lift when sophomore Matt Rawson replaced freshman Keali'i Frank in the middle. Rawson, who didn't play in the UCSB series, slammed one down to give the Warriors a 22-19 lead.

A kill by Clar and a lift called on UCLA setter Matt Wade pushed Hawaii ahead at 27-22. After committing just two hitting errors to that point, the Warriors made two in a row with Clar and Walker hitting wide, forcing Hawaii to call a timeout at 27-24.

Helped by the Bruins' 18th service error of the night and Walker's seventh kill, the Warriors took two shots at evening the match. Clar's 10th kill sent the teams into the locker room tied at 1-1.

A kill by Jake Schkud broke an 11-11 tie in Game 3, jump-starting a 3-0 UH run. The Warriors won two good rallies, first on a block of Muagututia and then on another kill by Schkud, forcing Scates to call timeout at 14-11.

Hawaii's defense dug deep, digging some of UCLA's best shots, in pulling away at 27-21. The Bruins never got closer than 28-24 with the Warriors using another UCLA service error and Clar's 14th kill to end it.