The Bulgarians have a word for it: “Koshmar.”
The English translation? “Nightmare.”
The Rainbow Warriors know it by another name: Rado Parapunov’s serve.
Hawaii’s junior opposite can terrorize an opponent’s serve-receive at any given time. No. 8 Stanford was aware of it, going to a four-man formation both on Friday and Sunday in hopes of neutralizing the high-toss heaters from the Bulgarian national.
It didn’t work.
Parapunov had four aces among the 16 serves that gave the Cardinal continued fits, as well 10 kills with no errors, to help No. 2 Hawaii defeat Stanford for a seventh consecutive time in Honolulu. A Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 2,276 saw senior hitter Stijn van Tilburg finish with a team-high 12 kills as the Warriors (5-0) finished off their fifth straight sweep in 95 minutes, 25-15, 25-18, 25-16.
Super Bowl Sunday was “super fun,” said Hawaii senior setter Joe Worsley, after finishing with a career-high six kills, one off a back-row set from van Tilburg. “I told Stijn we should switch, he should go to setter.
“But seriously, the energy on the floor is so spectacular. I give my brother (sophomore libero Gage) credit for that. And we wanted our serving to be one of our strengths this season.”
It was on Sunday, with Hawaii finishing with nine aces, two from junior hitter Colton Cowell in the Warriors’ 8-2 closing run in Set 3. Parapunov also had two as Hawaii finished out Set 2 on an 8-1 run.
“We see Rado’s serve in practice. It is a nightmare,” said Cowell, adding eight kills with no errors. “We’re fortunate to have him on our team.”
Stanford got a match-high 13 kills from sophomore opposite Jaylen Jasper and 11 from senior hitter Jordan Ewert. The Cardinal, 10th nationally in dig average (9.36), was outdug by the Warriors 29-15.
“They just refuse to let anything hit the floor,” said Jasper, whose father Ivin played football for the Warriors and mother Donna basketball for the Wahine. “Their libero, Gage, is unreal. Their defense is just phenomenal.
“It was just so frustrating getting swing after swing, and the block getting high touches, and (they’re) just straight up digging balls. They were just always in system. They exploited our weaknesses. We could tell that they scouted us very well and they knew what we were going to do. They knew our tendencies. They knew what we weren’t the best at, and they were ruthless and went after it.”
As good as Hawaii was defensively — shades of Super Bowl LIII — the Warriors were even better offensively.
Hawaii, coming into the week as the national leader in hitting percentage (.493), hit .544 on Sunday, including an unreal .619 in Set 1 (14 kills, one error, 21 attacks).
Hawaii had just six hitting errors, four by van Tilburg. But the Dutch national also had the most entertaining dig-kill of the match; his overpass of Kyler Presho’s serve arcing over the Cardinal defense and landing just inside the baseline for an 11-8 lead in Set 3.
“We were all watching, throwing up prayers, saying ‘please land in,’ ” Cowell said. “Our side of the net erupted. It was an emotional lift and plays like that can shift the tide.”
Stanford lost the video replay challenge and was outscored 14-8 the rest of the way.
Hawaii makes its first road trip of the year, heading to Charlotte, N.C., for three matches this week. The Warriors play host Queens (2-7) Thursday and Saturday, sandwiching Friday’s match against St. Francis (5-3). The Red Flash are coming off a five-set upset of No. 14 Ohio State on Friday in Columbus.
“We have a tough road trip coming up,” Joe Worsley said. “St. Francis just beat Ohio State and they have experience. It will be a good test for us.”
