Blocking and defense. It’s been the focus for Hawaii ever since returning from the road on March 19, dragging a four-match losing streak back into the practice gym.
It has weighed heavy on the collective minds of the Rainbow Warriors. The load was lifted — somewhat — Friday night when Hawaii was able to halt the skid that had the Warriors sliding to No. 7 in the poll and perhaps out of the conversation for an NCAA at-large bid.
Led by junior hitter Stijn van Tilburg’s 11 kills, the return of the steadying presence of junior Brett Rosenmeier and a 34-22 advantage in digs, Hawaii overcame some sloppy moments in sweeping UC San Diego 25-22, 25-17, 25-19 at the Stan Sheriff Center. Sophomore opposite Rado Parapunov added 10 kills and senior libero Tui Tuileta 10 digs as the Warriors (14-6, 2-3 Big West) defeated the Tritons for the 10th consecutive meeting.
“It was nice to bounce back, we really needed something like this,” said Rosenmeier, who set up match point with his second ace. “It was hard losing three on the road … super hard.
“It’s good to be back.”
Hawaii did just enough over the 101 minutes to get back in the “W” column. A holiday crowd of 2,170 saw the Warriors victorious for the first time since the March 9 sweep of Penn State.
“It feels good,” van Tilburg added. “We did not play our best game, it was a little sloppy, but we executed when we needed and won the game.
“We expected a good game from (the Tritons). They were playing well. Tomorrow, we need to clean it up.”
The teams meet again at 7 tonight.
UCSD (9-13, 0-5) was led by Tanner Syfiestad’s 12 kills. The senior opposite, who missed the previous two matches due to injury, came into the contest as the national kills leader (4.76 kps).
The biggest difference for Hawaii was on serve-receive. The Warriors had given up 31 aces in their previous four matches; Friday night, they allowed just one.
“Defensively we were better tonight,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said. “We’ve been working on being more aggressive on blocking.
“I thought Brett came in (Set 2) and gave us a lift. Both he and Austin (sophomore hitter Matautia) had a good week of practice.”
Hawaii opened the night by winning its first set in conference play since Set 1 of a four-set loss on Feb. 25 to UC Irvine, ending a streak of nine straight. It was anything but easy, with the Warriors struggling on offense when
hitting .108 with five
service errors.
The good news for Hawaii was UCSD struggled even more. The Tritons hit a flat .000, managing just eight kills, three by Syfiestad. UCSD used a 3-0 run to take a 21-19 lead, helped by two consecutive stuffs of Matautia. The Warriors responded with five unanswered points — capped by a kill from Parapunov — to gain set point at 24-21.
The Tritons held off one Hawaii attempt but not a second, with Xander Jimenez rejected by Hawaii’s triple block of Matautia, Parapunov and junior middle Dalton Solbrig.
Syfiestad got hot in Set 2 with seven of his team’s 10 kills, but got little help. The Warriors steadied out, breaking away from a 12-12 tie to take control at 18-13, using a 3-0 serving run from freshman defensive specialist Gage Worsley.
Two aces by van Tilburg helped the Warriors take their biggest lead at 22-14. Solbrig had Hawaii’s last two kills, sending the Warriors into the locker room up 2-0.
A sweep was never really in doubt, with Hawaii taking the lead for good at 4-3. The Warriors were cruising at 20-11, then sputtered a little as the Tritons closed to 20-14.
Rosenmeier’s ace gave Hawaii what would be its first shot at ending it at 24-16. The Warriors needed four, calling it a night on Parapunov’s final kill.
