UC Irvine snaps Warriors’ win streak

One of the Hawaii volleyball players stumbled during the pre-match introductions.

Later, the Rainbow Warriors became unbalanced in a 22-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-14 loss to UC Irvine on Friday night.

A crowd of 2,309 saw the Warriors rule the first set, squander a seven-point lead in the second and implode thereafter to end their seven-match winning streak in the Stan Sheriff Center.

The Warriors and Anteaters entered tied for eighth in the national poll. The Warriors exited at 11-7 overall and 9-6 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

The Anteaters improved to 12-8 and 9-7.

The rematch is at 5 p.m. Sunday.

"In the beginning, we were putting on good service pressure, keeping them out of system," UH middle Taylor Averill said, "and then we fell apart. I don’t know what to say."

Irvine coach David Kniffin said the turnaround was part personnel, part adjusting to the Sheriff Center.

"This is such an amazing venue to play in," Kniffin said. "It’s literally overwhelming. The fans are great here. They’re the best fans in America. But the (arena’s) depth is a little bit odd. It takes a little while to adjust. Once we adjusted, we started playing better volleyball."

The Anteaters’ depth perception began with their active roster. After falling behind 7-1 in the second set, Kniffin summoned opposite attacker Zack La Cavera and setter Daniel Stork.

La Cavera, who is left-handed, entered as the Anteaters’ leader with 3.66 kills per game. Kniffin opted to start Tamir Hershko, who was averaging 2.97 kills.

"It was more of a gut decision," Kniffin said. "As a young head coach, I think, maybe (it was) not the right call. I don’t know."

La Cavera crushed 12 kills, with nine launched from the back right.

"The setter and I really started to get in a groove," La Cavera said. "He was setting me real quick, which is hard for the other team’s blockers to kind of keep up. There were a lot of holes in the block that I used to my advantage."

The Warriors had seven blocks in the first set, with the tally up to 8.5 early in the second. But they did not have another block the rest of the match.

The Warriors had difficulty starting their offense. They sided out at 48.7 percent in the final three sets.

The Anteaters, meanwhile, were able to parlay accurate passes into multiple options. Stork, who replaced Roberto Frazzoni, expanded the offense beyond middle Scott Kevorken.

"Our hitters are pretty special," Stork said. "They have a lot of range and a lot of talent. That helps out a lot."

Kniffin said he chose to open with Frazzoni, who is deft at running the Anteaters’ quick offense and tries to accelerate the pace.

"It’s a little faster, a little more dynamic," Kniffin said.

But when the Anteaters struggled for rhythm early, Kniffin tried to change the pace and momentum.

"Stork is steady," Kniffin said. "When he comes in, he can distribute the ball, and we know what we’re going to get.

"He’s a consistent player. It’s real easy to rely on him in certain situations."

Stork said the key was to pass the Warriors’ tough serves.

"Hawaii can get after it at the service line," Stork said. "We really focused on getting in front of the ball, staying disciplined, and hope they don’t take some seams and sidelines."

Brook Sedore led UH with 13 kills.

Friday
UC Irvine def. Hawaii, 22-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-14
Long Beach State def. BYU, 25-21, 25-16, 25-27, 26-24
Stanford def. Pepperdine, 25-21, 15-25, 28-16, 25-21
USC def. Pacific, 25-20, 25-22, 25-15
UC Santa Barbara def. UC San Diego, 25-15, 25-13, 25-27

Saturday
BYU at CS Northridge
Pacific at Pepperdine
UC San Diego at UCLA
Cal Baptist at Long Beach State

Service Aces — UC Irvine 6 (Stork 2, Hughes, Kevorken, Russell, La Cavera). Hawaii 1 (Ramos).  Service errors — UC Irvine 15 (Hughes 3, Kevorken 3, Dejno 3, Frazzoni 2, Mehring 2, Russell, La Cavera). Hawaii 18 (Zarkovic 5, Ramos 3, Averill 3, Sedore 2, Olsen 2, Timmer 2, West). Assists — UC Irvine 50 (Stork 32, Frazzoni 12, Brinkley 4, Hughes, La Cavera). Hawaii 40 (Ramos 30, Franciskovic 8, Olsen 2). T — 2:08. Officials — Daphne Nelson, Dan Hironaka.  A — 2,309.