Warriors stun No. 2 CSUN
POSTED: Saturday, January 31, 2009
Good was just good enough.
And it didn't matter how ugly. A win was a win and it felt good.
Really, really good.
NEXT UP
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Sophomore hitter Brennon Dyer put down a team-high 18 kills and sophomore hitter Joshua Walker added 14—including the match-ender—as No. 12 Hawaii snapped a six-match losing streak in dramatic fashion last night.
The Warrior volleyball team turned back No. 2 Cal State Northridge 21-30, 30-28, 22-30, 30-23, 15-12 at the Stan Sheriff Center. The win ended the previously undefeated Matadors' program-best start at six matches.
Hawaii improved to 2-6 overall, 1-4 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. CSUN fell to 6-1 and 3-1.
The teams meet again tonight at 7.
“;It feels just awesome,”; said Walker, who was in on eight of the team's 19 blocks. “;We kept our serves in and everything was working for us tonight.
“;If we can win one, we can win two. We just have to do it again tomorrow.”;
The Warriors outblocked the taller Matadors 19-9 and held the best serving team in the MPSF to just five aces. Hawaii also had five aces, including two each by senior setter Sean Carney and Dyer.
Senior Eric Vance put down 32 kills as CSUN lost for the sixth straight time in Honolulu.
A turnstile crowd of 1,324 (2,345 tickets) saw both teams go to five for the first time this season.
“;It was an ugly match, but it's a quality win for us,”; Hawaii coach Mike Wilton said. “;I liked the pluck our guys had. We were horrible at times, but we overcame the problems. It was a nice win.”;
Hawaii did it without the help of freshman hitter Gus Tuaniga, who was expected to start but was on the bench in street clothes after the match started. Tuaniga declined to comment on what led to his being on the bench other than to say he apologized to his coaches and teammates, and hoped he'd be back in the lineup tonight.
Dyer played well in his place, with four of his kills coming in the deciding set.
“;We didn't play well,”; CSUN coach Jeff Campbell said. “;We're capable of much better.
“;Our serving was atrocious (33 errors) and we didn't play our game.”;
Hawaii forced the deciding set in convincing fashion, outblocking the Matadors 6-1 in Set 4.
Carney stuffed Matt Gaudino to give the Warriors a 16-14 lead. The Matadors never got closer than two again, with kills by Dyer and Walker helping Hawaii extend it to 25-18.
Leading 29-22, Hawaii needed two swings to end it with, Jacek Ratajczak's service error giving the Warriors the win and tying it at 2-2.
Hawaii led the fifth set 6-3 before CSUN tied it with three straight points. Vance had a kill and a block, and Walker hit long to knot it at 6-6.
The Warriors went up 8-6 at the changeover, with Vance's kill then bringing the Matadors to 8-7.
A kill by Dyer and a CSUN hitting error gave Hawaii a 10-8 lead and two kills by Walker helped extend it to 13-9.
Vance kept his team in it with two more kills as the Matadors rallied to 14-12. Walker ended it with his 18th kill.
“;I'd rate this an 11 out of 10,”; Carney said. “;It's a huge win. This was big.”;
MPSF standings
| W | L | Pct. | GB | W-L |
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| Pepperdine | 5 | 0 | 1.000 | — | 6-0 |
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| UC Irvine | 4 | 1 | .800 | 1 | 8-2 |
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| CSU Northridge | 3 | 1 | .750 | 1 1/2 | 6-1 |
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| USC | 2 | 1 | .667 | 2 | 5-2 |
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| BYU | 2 | 1 | .667 | 2 | 4-4 |
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| Long Beach State | 2 | 2 | .500 | 2 1/2 | 3-4 |
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| Stanford | 2 | 2 | .500 | 2 1/2 | 6-3 |
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| UCLA | 2 | 3 | .400 | 3 | 4-5 |
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| Hawaii | 1 | 4 | .200 | 4 | 2-6 |
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| UC Santa Barbara | 1 | 3 | .150 | 3 1/2 | 3-4 |
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| UC San Diego | 1 | 3 | .150 | 3 1/2 | 2-4 |
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| Pacific | 0 | 4 | .000 | 4 1/2 | 2-7 |
Last night
Hawaii def. CSU Northridge 21-30, 30-28, 22-30, 30-23, 15-12
UC Santa Barbara def. BYU 27-30, 27-30, 30-27, 30-27, 15-12
Stanford def. Long Beach State 26-30, 24-30, 33-31, 31-29, 15-8
UC San Diego def. Pacific 30-25, 30-18, 30-25
UC Irvine def. UCLA 20-30, 30-24, 30-17, 30-28
Pepperdine def. USC 30-28, 30-24, 30-19
Tonight
CSU Northridge at Hawaii, 7 p.m., Stan Sheriff Center
BYU at UC Santa Barbara
UC San Diego at Stanford
Long Beach State at Pacific
Hawaii def. Cal State Northridge
21-30, 30-28, 22-30, 30-23, 15-12
Matadors (6-1, 3-1)
| s | k | e | att | pct | d | bs | ba | pts |
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| Nua | 5 | 12 | 12 | 34 | .000 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 16 |
| McKniff | 5 | 7 | 5 | 13 | .154 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7.5 |
| Gaudino | 5 | 10 | 6 | 31 | .129 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 12 |
| Stork | 5 | 2 | 0 | 5 | .400 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2.5 |
| Vance | 5 | 32 | 7 | 65 | .385 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 33.5 |
| Ratajczak | 5 | 8 | 2 | 17 | .353 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 13.5 |
| Baxter | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Keohohou | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Totals | 5 | 71 | 32 | 165 | .236 | 52 | 3 | 12 | 85 |
Warriors (2-6, 1-4)
| s | k | e | att | pct | d | bs | ba | pts |
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| Rawson | 5 | 3 | 3 | 8 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
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| Grgas | 5 | 4 | 1 | 10 | .300 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
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| Hunt | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 | -.100 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3.5 |
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| Carney | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -.500 | 16 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
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| Walker | 5 | 14 | 11 | 49 | .061 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 18 |
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| Dyer | 5 | 18 | 6 | 42 | .286 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 22.5 | |
| Clar | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.5 |
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| Cervantes | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
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| Strotman | 5 | 3 | 1 | 11 | .182 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 4.5 |
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| China | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
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| Totals | 5 | 46 | 28 | 135 | .133 | 47 | 0 | 38 | 70 |
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—CS Northridge (5): Nua 3, Gaudino, Ratajczak. Hawaii (5): Carney 2, Dyer 2, Grgas. Assists—CS Northridge (64): Stork 59, Keohohou 2, Baxter, Vance, Nua. Hawaii (41): Carney 40, Cervantes.
T—2:43. Officials—Wayne Lee, Dickson Chun. A—1,324
