UH wins ‘ugly’

Hawaii ended its losing streak Friday, with a whimper and practically without an offense.

In one of their least elegant performances of the volleyball season, the 13th-ranked Rainbow Wahine swept UC Irvine 25-22, 25-16, 25-23.

The win, before 4,502 at Stan Sheriff Center, leaves UH (17-4) alone in third in the Big West at 6-3. Tonight, it plays Long Beach State (12-9, 5-3 BWC) to try to stay there. The 49ers have won their past four and have history with Hawaii, and a much greater shot at the upset then the ailing Anteaters, who have lost two starters to illness and injury.

But after losing three of their past four, the Wahine took what they could from Friday’s win.

"It was pretty ugly," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "We didn’t get a kill out of one of our outside hitting positions. It’s just not easy to get kills. We weren’t sharp and didn’t look good, but we got over a couple of hurdles by coming from behind in Games 1 and 3."

It salvaged the night.

Hawaii found itself at the strangest time — after Irvine (11-12, 2-7) scored five straight to pull ahead 21-16 in the first.

By then, senior Ashley Kastl was in for Tai Manu-Olevao. Those two were shut out in the second left-side hitting position, leaving the bulk of the offense — again — to Emily Hartong. Her 12 kills led both teams, by a bunch, and she took a third of Hawaii’s swings.

But it was Ali Longo who led the first-set charge, after the Anteaters had one of their 14 missed serves.

The libero went back to serve and by the time she was done, Hawaii was ahead 24-21 and on its way to an early, if ragged, night.

"We gave them confidence and they made a couple really nice plays on defense and we could not get a kill," UCI coach Paula Weishoff said. "After that we pressed and had too many serving and passing errors."

Freshman Nikki Taylor finished off the first two points of the rally with a kill and the Wahine’s first stuff. UCI hit out and Longo got the bottom to fall out of the ball for an ace — Hawaii had nine — to tie it.

Irvine called its final timeout and setter Mita Uiato somehow got the ball to Taylor, who buried it. Longo got another ace when the ball hit the net and fell over. Then, after a trio of spectacular Longo digs, Jade Vorster pounded a kill to get UH to set point.

"The blockers started funneling the ball a little bit more," Longo said. "That helped a lot."

Vorster’s fourth kill ended it a few moments later.

"That was huge," Shoji said. "We started the night looking like we did last week. Longo picked us up and she was the reason we won Games 1 and 3."

The senior finished with 18 digs and three aces, taking control when Hawaii’s anemic offense could not.

"I’m not sure what I expected," Shoji said. "I’m not sure of our mental health. When you lose a couple tight ones you lose confidence and start doubting yourself."

The Wahine hit just .168. It took them 11 minutes to get their first kill in the final set.

"It’s nice to win a match, that’s for sure," Shoji said. "But we’re a struggling ballclub now and we’ve got to find our way out of this. We’re young at a couple positions and that’s been hurting us."

NOTES

On the last trip, UH sophomore Jade Vorster had a career-high 10 blocks at Northridge and Emily Hartong climbed over 1,300 in kills. Hartong needs 43 more to pass Olympian Deitre Collins and move into 10th on the career kill list.

Cal State Northridge is ranked 24th this week, after its first win over a ranked opponent since 2008. It is the Matadors’ first appearance in the AVCA poll since 1992. CSUN pulled into first alone Thursday with a win over Cal State Fullerton.