Sports, as a metaphor for life, has felt very real this week for the Nittaidai men’s volleyball team.

The Japanese team wasn’t sure what to expect when facing Hawaii — the top-ranked U.S. college team — in two exhibitions at the Stan Sheriff Center. The taller Rainbow Warriors literally presented a huge challenge for Nittaidai, which, outside of two 6-foot-7 middles, averaged 6 feet, including its 5-8 setter.

Hawaii wasn’t as dominating as Wednesday — when it had 19.5 blocks — but the 8.5 stuffs on Friday were key in a 25-23, 25-23, 25-14 sweep.

The uncertainty continues today when Nittaidai returns home to Japan as the coronavirus numbers continue to rise along with the increase in safety measures. Their campus in Tokyo remains open during semester break and, for now, their two-month season is on schedule to start in April.

For now.

“Right now it looks like we’ll play,” Nittaidai coach Kenji Yamamoto said through an interpreter. “But we don’t know.”

What he does know is his team represented their country and its tradition of energized defensive volleyball well. A crowd of 3,505 watched another entertaining contest, this one lasting 95 minutes.

“I think we were a little lackadaisical (Wednesday) and they were fired up from the start,” UH freshman setter Brett Sheward said. “We tried to have that energy from the beginning tonight and that was the difference.”

There was a big difference in Hawaii’s defense as well. The Warriors were outdug 42-25 in Wednesday’s four-set win; on Friday they had a 35-30 edge, led by junior libero Gage Worsley’s eight in two sets.

“I think that (more digs) was seeing more of their offense,” Sheward said. “They run a very fast offense, something we hadn’t seen before. I think what we learned from them was to be ready for everything.”

Senior hitter Colton Cowell, who had three kills on Wednesday, had four in Set 1 Friday and finished with five when playing in the first two sets.

Senior opposite Rado Parapunov continued to lead the Warriors, finishing with a match high of 13 kills and two of the team’s 10 aces, also when playing in two sets. In Set 2, he had four consecutive kills to put Hawaii up 21-20.

Makoto Nishimura’s ace tied it for the eighth and last time at 22. Freshman outside Chaz Galloway quickly broke it with an ace and a solo block of Ryo Takahashi.

Hawaii had five new starters in Set 3, including redshirt freshman Cole Hogland, who has dual citizenship and played for Japan in an international tournament in 2018. The opposite put down his first six attempts and added two aces during a 6-0 serving run that put the Warriors up for good at 9-3.

Sophomore middle Max Rosenfeld had two of his three aces to push the margin to 17-9.

Sophomore hitter Filip Humler’s ace came in a 6-0 serving run that gave Hawaii its first match point at 24-12. The Warriors needed three, the final point coming on a Nittaidai service error.

Afterward, the Japanese players joined the Warriors in a celebratory lap around the court, high-fiving fans, taking pictures with fans and receiving lei. It epitomized what international exhibition matches are called — friendlies — and it was a reminder that there is a certainty in sportsmanship when the rest of life is filled with uncertainties.

“We enjoyed it,” Yamamoto said. “Playing a tough team like UH is really good practice.”

The Warriors (14-0) can say the same thing as they look ahead to next week’s key matches with No. 2 Brigham Young. Barring the Cougars (15-0) being upset tonight at No. 13 Stanford (6-8), Thursday’s nonconference contest will pit undefeated Nos. 1 and 2.

Currently the matches are scheduled to be held. Hawaii athletic director David Matlin said the university is following the U.S. State Department and other agencies’ advisories when it comes to travel.

“Every entity involved, those lead government agencies, the conferences(s) and the schools are monitoring the situation,” Maitlin texted. “Everyone understands that it is very fluid and things are subject to change.”

Note

Hawaii freshman libero ‘Eleu Choy will be out for a few weeks after suffering a broken nose in practice this week.