Warriors' losing skid reaches 6
POSTED: Saturday, January 24, 2009
Momentum didn't just swing last night. The pendulum came crashing down on Hawaii in Provo, Utah.
NEXT UP
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The 11th-ranked Warriors were unable to hold onto leads—both early and late—against No. 9 Brigham Young at Smith Fieldhouse. The little bit of self-destruction combined with steadier play by the Cougars added up to Hawaii's sixth straight loss.
The 30-23, 30-28, 30-28 defeat dropped the Warriors to 1-6 overall, 0-4 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play. BYU, led by Mat Taylor's 19 kills, improved to 4-3 and 2-0.
Steven Hunt:
Freshman had
team-high 15
kills for the
Warriors in losing
effort against BYU
“;I think if we didn't drop Game 2, we'd still be playing,”; Hawaii coach Mike Wilton said. “;We missed 13 serves in the first two games, 23 percent of our serves, and that's not going to work on any level.
“;There are a lot of bright spots. Our two freshmen (Steven Hunt and Gus Tuaniga) are becoming players, starting to believe they can play in this league. We just keep coming up on the short end when playing very good teams.”;
Hunt put down 15 kills and Tuaniga 11. Also in double figures was senior Jim Clar with 11.
While the Warriors won the blocking battle, 10-9.5, the war was won on the service line. BYU had seven aces to Hawaii's one, including the ace by Taylor that capped the Cougars' 4-0 run at the end of Set 2.
Hawaii had led for most of Set 2 and held leads of 25-21 and 28-26. Two kills by freshman middle Futi Tavana (Kauai '05) tied it with Tavana in on a block of Hunt for set point.
Hawaii didn't fold, despite trailing 29-24. The Warriors held off four match points, with consecutive kills by Tuaniga bring Hawaii to within 29-28.
Setter Sean Carney's final serve went long—“;Some people tell me it was in, it was close,”; Wilton said—to end it after an hour and 50 minutes.
“;It was a valiant effort, there is not quit in these kids,”; Wilton said. “;They bounced back and battled.
“;They know they have to keep working hard. We are a work in progress.”;
BYU's tough serving created problems for Hawaii's passers. The Warriors were unable to run a middle attack, which had been effective the past three matches; junior middles Matt Rawson and Steven Grgas had a combined seven kills on 17 attempts.
“;We have room for improvement but we served well,”; third-year BYU coach Shawn Patchell said. “;We played good defensively tonight against a very good Hawaii team.”;
NOTE: Junior libero Ric Cervantes did not play last night, still bothered by flu-like symptoms which has caused dehydration. Wilton said Cervantes was seen by a doctor yesterday.
Brigham Young def. Hawaii
30-23, 30-28, 30-28
Warriors (1-6, 0-4)
| s | k | e | att | pct | d | bs | ba | pts |
||
| Rawson | 3 | 5 | 1 | 9 | .444 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6.0 |
|
| Grgas | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 | .000 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 5.5 |
|
| Clar | 3 | 11 | 5 | 31 | .194 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 12.5 |
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| Hunt | 3 | 15 | 7 | 31 | .258 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 15.5 |
|
| Carney | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .333 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 3.0 |
|
| Tuaniga | 3 | 10 | 0 | 20 | .500 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12.0 |
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| Cervantes | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
|
| China | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
|
| Dyer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.5 | |
| Totals | 3 | 44 | 15 | 103 | .282 | 32 | 0 | 20 | 55.0 |
Cougars (4-3, 2-0)
| s | k | e | att | pct | d | bs | ba | pts |
|
| Souza | 3 | 5 | 0 | 13 | .385 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7.0 |
| Taylor | 3 | 19 | 8 | 35 | .314 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 21.5 |
| Sagers | 3 | 8 | 6 | 21 | .095 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 11.0 |
| Perez | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .333 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 4.5 |
| Stewart | 3 | 11 | 4 | 27 | .259 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 13.5 |
| Tavana | 3 | 5 | 2 | 14 | .214 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 7.5 |
| Tuttle | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Chilton | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Silva | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Robinson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.5 |
| Kauliakamoa | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Totals | 3 | 49 | 20 | 114 | .254 | 36 | 1 | 17 | 65.5 |
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—Hawaii (1): Tuaniga. BYU (7): Sagers 2, Perez 2, Stewart 2, Taylor. Assists—Hawaii (41): Carney 35, Clar 2, Tuaniga 2, China 2. BYU (45): Perez 39, Souza 5, Taylor.
T—1:50. Officials—Maile Jewkes, Les Calles, Trent Mano. A—2,836.
MPSF standings
| W | L | Pct. | GB | W-L |
||
| CSU Northridge | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | — | 7-0 |
|
| Pepperdine | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | — | 5-0 |
|
| UC Irvine | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | — | 7-2 |
|
| BYU | 3 | 0 | 1.000 | 1/2 | 5-3 |
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| USC | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 1 | 5-1 |
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| UCLA | 3 | 2 | .667 | 1 1/2 | 4-4 |
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| Long Beach State | 2 | 2 | .500 | 2 | 3-4 |
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| Stanford | 1 | 2 | .333 | 2 1/2 | 5-3 |
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| Pacific | 0 | 3 | .000 | 3 1/2 | 2-6 |
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| UC San Diego | 0 | 4 | .000 | 4 | 1-5 |
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| UC Santa Barbara | 0 | 4 | .000 | 4 | 2-5 |
|
| Hawaii | 0 | 5 | .000 | 4 1/2 | 1-7 |
Last night
BYU def. Hawaii, 30-23, 30-28, 30-28
Pepperdine def. Pacific, 30-25, 30-25, 30-28
CSU Northridge def. UC Santa Barbara, 30-21, 30-25, 30-27
UCLA def. UC San Diego, 30-26, 35-33, 30-22
USC def. Stanford, 30-22, 31-29, 30-23
UC Irvine def. Long Beach State, 34-32, 32-30, 28-30, 30-27
Tonight
Stanford at Pepperdine
Pacific at USC
