Warriors fall to 1-1, get No. 1 Penn State next
POSTED: Saturday, January 10, 2009
Win or lose, there's always a lesson to be learned. And No. 13 Hawaii learned the hard way that a slow start and lapses in focus can quickly add up to defeat.
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No. 7 USC was steadier than Hawaii over the hour and 50 minutes needed to complete a 30-25, 30-27, 30-23 sweep in yesterday's second match of the Outrigger Hotels Invitational. A Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 1,760 (2,823 tickets) saw the Trojans (1-1) get a match-high 19 kills from the aptly named Murphy Troy in rebounding from Thursday's five-set loss to Penn State.
USC meets No. 10 Ohio State (0-2) at 4 p.m. today. The Buckeyes dropped to 0-2 when losing to the top-ranked Nittany Lions, 30-27, 30-24, 30-19, in 83 minutes.
Penn State goes for its second consecutive Outrigger title tonight, taking on the host Warriors at 7.
Just how quickly Hawaii can put this loss behind will be a challenge.
“;We showed our youth tonight,”; Warriors libero Ric Cervantes said of a lineup that started two freshmen and added a third when junior blocker Matt Rawson went out with a sore shoulder. “;The main thing is we have to take this as a learning experience,”;
“;SC's offense was pretty much unstoppable. We never got them out of system. We can't get down on ourselves.”;
Hawaii never had an answer for Troy or the Trojans' balanced attack. USC had three others in double-figure kills, with Sean Dennis putting down 12 and Tony Ciarelli and Austin Zahn 10 each.
Joshua Walker had 15 for the Warriors.
“;Our problem was we came out flat in the first game,”; Walker said. “;The second game, we let the refs get into our heads. Then we got behind in the third.
“;Tomorrow, we need to come out better than we did and hopefully continue it the whole match.”;
The key to success is always to serve and pass and “;that's what we were able to do,”; USC setter Riley McKibbin (Punahou '07) said. “;Hawaii is a good team, very scrappy, and they played well. But we played really well.”;
One bad rotation cost the Warriors in Set 1. Troy's 4-0 serving run included two aces and put the Trojans ahead for good at 8-5.
Troy and Ciarelli combined for 11 kills as SC hit an impressive .562 behind McKibbin.
Troy continued his hot hand when cooling off Hawaii in Set 2. The Warriors overcame a couple of controversial calls and rallied behind the serving of senior defensive specialist Mike China.
After China's first career ace gave Hawaii a 23-20 lead, Troy took over, putting down nine kills on 15 swings, including three straight that put USC ahead at 24-23.
The Warriors managed to tie it three times, the last at 26, before Zahn put down two kills to give the Trojans the lead for good. At 29-27, Walker hit long to end it.
Troy did his damage from the back line in Set 3. His 4-0 serving stint that included his fourth ace helped the Trojans pull away for good at 16-11.
“;I liked that we took care of the ball tonight,”; USC coach Bill Ferguson said. “;We got Sean (UH setter Carney) off the (serving) line and he was the server we were most worried about. I thought Luke (libero Morris) did a great job at serve-receive.”;
USC finished with five aces to UH's one and won the blocking battle as well 9.5-4. Troy finished with a double-double with 14 digs.
Penn State 3, Ohio State 0
The Nittany Lions made quick work of the Buckeyes in a rematch from last May's NCAA semifinals.
Freshman setter Edgardo Goas ran a very efficient (.422) and diverse attack, led by Ryan Sweitzer's 15 kills. Middle Max Lipsitz added 12 kills with just one error on 19 swings (.579), half of the kills coming in Set 3, with Will Price also putting down 12 kills.
The Nittany Lions, who had 12 aces Thursday in beating USC, had eight against the Buckeyes. Max Holt ran his tournament total to 10 with three last night.
Ted Schoenfeldt led Ohio State with 13 ills and Robbie Klein added 11.
Southern California def. Hawaii
30-25, 30-27, 30-23
Trojans (1-1)
| s | k | e | att | pct | d | bs | ba | pts |
|
| McKibbin | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1.000 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 1.0 |
| Troy | 3 | 19 | 5 | 34 | .412 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 23.0 |
| Dennis | 3 | 12 | 3 | 22 | .409 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 16.0 |
| Clarelli | 3 | 10 | 2 | 29 | .276 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 11.0 |
| Zahn | 3 | 10 | 2 | 14 | .571 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 12.5 |
| Current | 3 | 6 | 2 | 11 | .364 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8.0 |
| Keenan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Morris | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 3 | 57 | 15 | 111 | .378 | 42 | 2 | 15 | 71.5 |
Warriors (1-1)
| s | k | e | att | pct | d | bs | ba | pts |
|
| Rawson | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | -.157 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 |
| Grgas | 3 | 5 | 1 | 9 | .444 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5.5 |
| Hunt | 3 | 8 | 5 | 28 | .107 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 |
| Carney | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | .500 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4.5 |
| Walker | 3 | 15 | 3 | 34 | .353 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 16.5 |
| Tuaniga | 3 | 7 | 3 | 17 | .235 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 |
| Cervantes | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lofy | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 | .286 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.5 |
| Zemljak | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| China | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 |
| Totals | 3 | 42 | 15 | 107 | .252 | 33 | 2 | 4 | 47.0 |
Key—s: sets played; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct: hitting percentage; d: digs; bs: block solo; ba: block assists; pts: points (kills + blocks + aces)
Aces—USC (5): Dennis 4, Current. Hawaii (1): China. Assists—USC (55): McKibbin 53, Morris 2. Hawaii (39): Carney 34, Tuaniga 2.
T—1:50. Officials—Ernie Ho, Wayne Lee. A—2,823.
