Getting to 300 was more of a battle than some expected Friday night. Still, No. 2 Hawaii was able to put up its 300th victory in the Stan Sheriff Center by putting away No. 15 Ball State in the 25th Outrigger Hotels & Resorts Invitational men’s volleyball tournament.
With junior opposite Rado Parapunov matching his uniform number with 19 kills, and senior hitter Stijn van Tilburg moving into 10th place all-time in kills by adding 12, the Rainbow Warriors extended their NCAA-record consecutive sets won with a 25-22, 25-19, 25-18 sweep of the Cardinals. Hawaii (14-0) also set the program mark for best start, surpassing the 13-0 opening run by the 1996 NCAA runner-up team.
The Warriors go for their ninth title in this event at 7 tonight against No. 6 Pepperdine. The Waves (13-4) needed just 74 minutes to sweep King 25-21, 25-16, 25-18.
The Tornado (10-7) meet the Cardinals (9-10) in the de facto third-place match at 4 p.m. today.
As a crowd of 2,348 watched, Hawaii needed 105 minutes and a much-needed push, senior setter Joe Worsley said, to continue undefeated.
“We can’t expect to go through teams like we have been doing,” Worsley said. “In the middle of the game, we talked about it, that we were getting frustrated when putting good serves in and (Ball State) was able to stay in system. It was good to see that we could battle back.
“There’s double motivation for tomorrow. Pepperdine beat us last year, and that was a road trip that took us out of the NCAA tournament (for an at-large bid). And BYU took this (Outrigger) championship from us last year. We want to come out hard and not give anyone a chance to beat us on our home floor.”
The Cardinals had their chances all night, with leads in every set. The Warriors slowed but never quite figured out junior hitter Matt Szews, who made the all-tournament team two years ago when Ball State finished second to Hawaii.
Szews had 11 kills with no errors midway through Set 2, his 11th tying it 12-12. He had four kills the rest of the night, his lone error coming on a solo stuff by van Tilburg to give the Warriors the lead for good in Set 3 at 11-10.
Szews finished with 15 kills.
Hawaii, the top blocking team in the country, finished with an 8-1 edge in stuffs, with junior middle Patrick Gasman — the nation’s leader in blocks — in on five. For the first time this season, the Warriors lost the dig war, 25-24; Worsley brothers Joe and sophomore libero Gage each had eight digs.
Ball State coach Joel Walton said the keys for his team were to manage Hawaii’s serves, not allowing long scoring runs, and to take advantage of the Warriors’ shorter blockers: Joe Worsley at 6-foot-1 and junior hitter Colton Cowell at 6-2.
“They’re an awfully good serving team,” Walton said after the Warriors finished with six aces. “And their attack is quick. I’m really impressed with what they do in transition.
“Both Joe and Gage put up a good ball for their guys to take aggressive swings. On our last serve (down 24-18), Gage passed the ball over his head and Joe ran a difficult play right back at us that (van Tilburg) put away. Hawaii is an awfully good team.”
The significance of 300 wins in the arena was not lost on Cowell, a King Kekaulike graduate.
“To be a part of this milestone and be a part of history is always a surreal and incredible feeling,” Cowell said. “And I’m sure that after this weekend we’re going to relish in that a little bit and really enjoy it.”
No. 6 Pepperdine 3, King 0
Senior hitter Kaleb Denmark and senior middle Clay Carr each had 12 kills as the Waves swept the Tornado. Sean Kohlhase led King with nine kills with just one error in hitting .500.
Note
Van Tilburg is at 1,182 kills and is 17 away from passing Dejan Miladinovic for No. 9. He has a chance to be the second Warrior to be named to the Outrigger all-tournament team four times, and the first since Costas Theocharidis (2000-03). Van Tilburg also is the only player in tournament history to earn the MVP award twice, as a freshman and as a sophomore.
