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With setter Jennings Franciskovic at the controls, the University of Hawaii volleyball team navigated its way to a 25-22, 25-21, 25-22 victory over Harvard on Friday night.
A Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 2,137 saw the Rainbow Warriors win their first two matches in the Outrigger Resorts Invitational. The Warriors will play Lewis, also 2-0 following Friday’s sweep of King, for the tournament’s title on Sunday afternoon.
Franciskovic narrowly missed being selected as one of the Warriors’ four co-captains. But UH coach Charlie Wade entrusted the offense to the junior.
“I’d say it’s a good partnership at this point,” Wade said.
Franciskovic said: “I’ve always felt this was my team. These are great guys to set. I can do a lot with them. I’m really confident in this team. We’re all great volleyball players.”
In Thursday’s opening match against King, Franciskovic rationed the sets to freshman opposite Stijn van Tilburg, who had slammed 14 kills in 15 swings in his debut.
“I did hold back (in that match) to save his shoulder,” Franciskovic said. “Harvard is a really good team, and I wanted to get (van Tilburg) more involved. I was going to set him the ball.”
On Friday, Van Tilburg pounded a match-high 18 kills on 35 swings and hit .400. He had eight kills in the first set.
“Jennings gave me a lot of sets — and a lot of confidence,” van Tilburg said.
Franciskovic also distributed the offense, with left-side hitters Siki Zarkovic and Kupono Fey sharing 43 sets. Zarkovic had 12 kills, and Fey contributed eight kills, six digs and 22 receptions without an error.
In the third set, Franciskovic made a sprawling one-handed set that Zarkovic crushed for a 19-16 lead.
“I’ve got to give a little bit of a show every so often,” Franciskovic said, smiling. “I told Siki I was glad he was there already or else I would have shot the (set) straight out of bounds.”
Zarkovic said: “I was expecting that back set. He’s one of the few setters who can do that set. I was confident he was going to set that way.”
Van Tilburg marveled that Franciskovic “has a lot of guts to do what other setters won’t do. He has eyes in the back of his head.”
Wade ribbed Franciskovic for managing only one block against King. Franciskovic, who is 6 feet 5, can touch 12 feet off a three-step approach. Wade challenged Franciskovic, who can block the pin or middle, to get his fingerprints on more spikes.
“I held up my bargain,” said Franciskovic, who contributed to four of the Warriors’ six blocks.
Hendrik Mol, a middle who is Franciskovic’s blocking partner in two front-row rotations, said he has to “jump max” to create a level wall.
Franciskovic also scored on an ace and three no-look dumps.
“He gets a lot of kills on his own,” Mol said. “It’s probably because he jumps so high.”
With inexperience in the middle — this is the first collegiate season Mol and Iain McKellar are playing there — the Warriors have relied heavily on the pin attacks. Against Harvard, the Warriors added a third dimension, with Zarkovic hitting bics on pipe sets and van Tilburg feasting on D sets to the back right.
“Our offense is still a work in progress,” Wade said. “I’d say it’s far from complete. We’re relatively productive and relatively efficient early on, but we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
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