Rainbow Warriors run record to 4-0 with sweep

It was 2003. Jennings Franciskovic was 8 years old and volleyball was the furthest thing from his mind the last time the Hawaii men’s volleyball team opened up 4-0.

But Wednesday night the senior setter was at the forefront of the Rainbow Warriors matching that start from 14 years ago with a 26-24, 25-21, 25-23 sweep of Grand Canyon. Franciskovic had the Warriors hitting .304, connecting with sophomore Stijn van Tilburg for 15 kills and freshman hitter Austin Matautia for 13 in front of 1,857 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

It lasted 105 minutes. It was anything but easy.

“We knew they were a good team, knew it was going to be a battle,” said Franciskovic, who had 43 assists and was in on four of the team’s eight blocks, including two solo. “We knew they’d be running a faster offense and it was something we needed to adjust to.

“This team is special and it’s nice we are starting out so strong. Playing teams out of conference is good for our RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) and hopefully we can keep it going.

Hawaii (4-0) gets a shot at that on Friday with a 7 p.m. rematch against GCU (1-2), the last home match until Jan. 27.

It was a mini Moanalua High reunion for Matautia as he faced former Na Menehune teammate Sky Engleman, a junior libero for the Antelopes. Engleman tied Hawaii sophomore libero Larry Tuileta with a match-high 12 digs.

It was an impressive defensive battle on both sides, with Grand Canyon finishing with 32 digs and Hawaii 29. The teams also combined for 14.6 blocks in the short match, the Warriors outblocking the ’Lopes 8 to 6.5.

“It’s something you don’t see in the men’s game,” GCU coach Matt Werle said of the digs. “But we know that’s one of Hawaii’s fortes, their defense.

“Hawaii is a good team, they’re very physical and scored a lot of points off our blocks. I can’t complain about our effort. But we had leads late, our passing broke down and we got tentative. Friday, we’ve got to play a complete match.”

Grand Canyon had its chances in all three sets. GCU, which will move to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation next season, rallied in Set 1 after being down 23-19. The ’Lopes capped a 5-1 run on a kill from Drake Silbernagel to tie it for the seventh and final time at 24.

Van Tilburg’s fifth kill gave the Warriors set point and it ended when Luke Turner hit wide.

The ’Lopes again hung tough in a tight Set 2, leading at 16-12 and 21-20. The Warriors rallied, tying it for the 11th and final time at 21 on Kupono Fey’s seventh kill.

Sophomore hitter Brett Rosenmeier served out the set, with Hawaii’s final points coming on a Grand Canyon hitting error, van Tilburg’s 11th kill and two successful pipe sets from Matautia.

It looked as if Grand Canyon would push it to a fourth, leading for the majority of Set 3, including at 21-20. Hawaii took its first lead at 23-22 on a service error by Kamehameha graduate Cullen Mosher and Fey gave the Warriors the first shot at their third sweep in four matches at 24-22.

GCU sophomore hitter Will Schwob prolonged the inevitable with his fifth kill, only to have Hawaii freshman middle Patrick Gasman answer with his seventh kill.

Fey added nine kills for Hawaii. GCU got seven kills each from junior hitter Shalev Saada and junior middle Ashton King.

“It was a very up-tempo match and they were going to be pounding the middle,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said. “We need to be better Friday with our execution. We made too many mistakes, some unforced errors, and got caught (defensively) when we didn’t have our libero on the floor.

“I thought Kupono steadied out and that’s what you want your senior captain to do.”