It’s going quickly, this final season for Hawaii’s seniors. The three who started Sunday — setter Jennings Franciskovic, outside hitter Kupono Fey and middle Hendrik Mol — are savoring each moment and trying to make it last for as long as possible … except when it means finishing out the match in three sets.
When push came to shove in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation volleyball rematch against No. 10 Pepperdine, the senior trio pushed back in a huge way to help the fourth-ranked Rainbow Warriors continue several impressive streaks. With the Waves serving for set point in the third at 24-23, Franciskovic had a kill, Fey two and Mol and Franciskovic teamed for two blocks for Hawaii’s final five points in a 25-22, 25-18, 28-26 victory at the Stan Sheriff Center.
A crowd of 2,521 saw the Warriors (16-2, 7-2 MPSF) extend their streaks to 11 consecutive wins, 15 straight victories at home dating back to last season and 20 consecutive sets won. Sophomore opposite Stijn van Tilburg finished with 17 kills and Fey 15 for Hawaii in its sixth sweep in a row.
The top blocking team in the league finished with an 11-4 edge over the Waves (6-7, 4-6), who came into the series ranked second in blocks behind Hawaii. Franciskovic was in on five, and Mol and freshman middle Patrick Gasman four each.
“Any win in the MPSF is a big win, but especially tonight when it’s the second night and both teams have made adjustments,” said Franciskovic, who had the Warriors hitting .350 on the night. “And to win in three is even better.
“I wasn’t worried (down 24-23). With our crowd behind us, the big claps going (at aloha ball), I was confident in our team.”
It was the confidence in Franciskovic’s attacking ability that had Hawaii coach Charlie Wade calling for a dump shot by his setter out of the timeout at 24-23. Franciskovic, who had five kills on six attempts in Friday’s win over Pepperdine, had only one kill on three attempts Sunday to that point as the Waves paid attention when Franciskovic was in the front row.
“Jennings hadn’t used it much (Sunday) so we called it,” Wade said. “It’s a nice weapon to have, literally another attack for us.
“I never would have guessed we’d win six sets in a row against a team of that caliber. If they had gotten that one (Set 3), then you never know what’s going to happen. It was huge for us to close it out.”
Junior libero Tui Tuileta anchored the Warriors’ defense with 12 of the team’s 41 digs.
“It’s nice to get in and get out in three,” he said of the 147-minute contest. “We’re coming into the meat of our season and learning to take care of business when we play good teams will come in handy.
“It felt really good, the way we came back in the third set. We never really had separation from each other. As long as we kept siding out, we knew eventually we’d get a real point.”
Set 3 was quite a contrast to Set 2 in which there was just one tie — at 3-3 — and Pepperdine had just four kills, hitting negative .057. The third was knotted 16 times, with six lead changes, with Hawaii finishing with half its blocks — 5.5 of the 11.
“It think at set point, our adrenalin started going,” said Mol, who added five kills. “We wanted to stay unbeaten, both in sets and (matches).”
Hawaii looks to extend both this week when hosting No. 14 USC (6-10, 5-8) on Thursday and Friday.
“It will be interesting,” said Tuileta, who played for the Trojans for one season (2015).
Sophomore hitter Michael Wexter had 10 kills for the Waves, who lost for the ninth straight time in Honolulu. Junior hitter Alex Harthaller added eight kills and sophomore hitter David Wieczorek seven.
Junior libero Weston Barnes had 13 of Pepperdine’s 34 digs.
“I thought our defense again was really good,” Wade said. “The guys have a calm confidence and are playing with a lot of clarity.
“The part that they’re having some confidence in is going back and putting the serve in, then letting the defense do what it does.
“In the men’s game, nine digs a set leads the league. We had 13-plus tonight. And 11 blocks in three sets is nearly four a set. It was a nice performance defensively. “
Hawaii came into the series ranked No. 1 in the MPSF in both blocks (2.68) and digs (8.91). The Warriors also came in leading the league in opponent hitting percentage (.107); the Waves hit .167 Sunday and .261 Friday.
