Warriors to start fresh against Northridge

The laundry list is longer than Hawaii had hoped to bring back from last week’s road trip to Brigham Young. The No. 3 Cougars washed out a number of streaks that the fourth-ranked Rainbow Warriors had packed when heading to Smith Fieldhouse.

Fifteen consecutive victories, 10 of those in straight sets, and 32 straight sets-won all rinsed away in the altitude of Provo, Utah.

While that bleach was harsh, it also means that Hawaii returns home for its final two regular-season matches at the Stan Sheriff Center with renewed purpose to clean up the mistakes that led to being swept twice by the Cougars.

“It was a little humbling after all those streaks,” said Hawaii outside hitter Kupono Fey, one of four seniors who will be honored after Saturday’s match with Cal State Northridge. “The main thing we learned is that we can always get better.

“They found flaws in our game that we need to perfect this week. They had a big block and I don’t think we were ready for the ball to come back on our side.”

BYU outblocked Hawaii — which came into last week the top blocking team in the country — 26-8. Of perhaps more concern was the Warriors’ service errors: a combined 28 with 17 coming on Saturday.

“The things that got us was our attacking and serving errors,” Hawaii junior libero Tui Tuileta said, noting his team hit a season-low .188 last Friday and .294 last Saturday. “We weren’t able to bounce back from those things.

“But we’re over with it already and adjusting from what happened.”

Hawaii still has several impressive streaks alive: 19 straight home victories and 12 consecutive Mountain Pacific Sports Federation wins at home. If the Warriors were to defeat the Matadors twice this week, it would mean an undefeated home record since going 8-0 in 1988 in Klum Gym.

There is, however, much more on the line against CSUN (12-12, 5-10). Two victories keep alive Hawaii’s hopes for a top-four finish and April 15 quarterfinal hosting duties in the MPSF tournament.

The Matadors remain mathematically alive for a top-eight finish but have a tough road. After playing the Warriors, they finish out the regular-season hosting Long Beach State, a team that handed CSUN its sixth straight loss last Saturday.

Since sweeping Stanford on Feb. 3, the Matadors have lost nine of their past 12, including five five-setters. CSUN’s lone win in five during that stretch was a 3-2 upset at then No. 5 UCLA.

“They’ve had some tough luck at the end of matches,” Warriors coach Charlie Wade said. “I think they’re way better than their record.

“They’ve got some big arms, one of the best opposites in the league (junior Arvis Greene, 4.05 kps), one of the best servers in the league (sophomore hitter Dimitar Kalchev, 59 aces). They are still trying to get themselves into the playoffs so they have a lot to play for. We gotta be good.”

Note

Besides Fey, Hawaii’s other seniors who will be honored on Saturday are setter Jennings Franciskovic, middle Hendrik Mol and opposite Iain McKellar.