At 4,500 feet above sea level, the University of Hawaii volleyball team’s winning streak disappeared into thin air.
Brigham Young had all the answers in a 27-25, 25-21, 21-25, 25-17 victory in the Smith Fieldhouse.
The top-ranked Rainbow Warriors had won 16 in a row and had not lost in 70 days. The outcome dropped the Warriors, who are 18-3 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, into a first-place tie with UC Irvine entering Saturday’s final night of the regular season. Irvine is an overwhelming favorite against UC San Diego.
The Warriors would need to beat BYU in Saturday’s rematch to salvage a share of the MPSF regular-season title. Irvine has the tiebreaker advantage over UH, and would earn the No. 1 seed in the MPSF playoffs if the teams finish tied.
The MPSF tournament winner earns the league’s automatic berth in the six-team NCAA tournament. But the Warriors could enhance their at-large chances with a share of the regular-season title.
"Everyone was disappointed," UH coach Charlie Wade said. "We’re always disappointed when we don’t play well. This is a good team, and we still can be regular-season co-champs. I think we’ll play a lot better (Saturday)."
The Warriors appeared to be out of rhythm early. During the winning streak, the Warriors were able to disrupt opponents with powerful serves. On Friday night, the servers appeared to be indecisive.
"They kind of three-quartered it," Wade said. "If you’re going to go back and bang it, go back and bang it. If you want to float it, float it. It’s the in-between ones that we had trouble with. It seemed we had a handful of those."
The Warriors gave away 45 points on errors — 26 on attacks, 13 on serves, three on aces and three on net violations.
Asked if the high altitude was a factor, Wade said: "Not when you roll it into the net. I don’t think that’s elevation."
The Cougars passed well, opening the quick sets for middles Price Jarman and Michael Hatch. Jarman had nine kills against one error and hit .533. Hatch had seven kills and hit .600.
When the Warriors bunched the middle, Brenden Sander (14 kills) and Matt Underwood blasted spikes from the pins and behind the 3-meter line.
"Brenden Sander played great," Wade acknowledged. "He had his best match as a college player."
BYU was without injured outside hitter Josue Rivera. Jake Langlois, who averages a team-high 3.31 kills per set, did not play.
The Warriors pulled opposite Brook Sedore, their leading attacker, after he struggled with his aim in the first two sets. Sedore returned, but finished with 10 kills and seven errors.
The Warriors, who did not lead in the first two sets, rallied in the third. Kupono Fey, who plays the ball-handling position on the outside, pounded a career-high 19 kills and hit .438.
But that was not enough on a night when the Warriors hit .244 overall, including minus-.030 in the fourth set. The Cougars had 14.5 blocks to the Warriors’ 5.5.
"They passed well, but we didn’t defend the middle very well, either," Wade said. "We just want to get back and prove we’re a good team, and go out and play better (Saturday)."
Wade added: "We didn’t play our best, and in our league, if you don’t play your best, most nights you’re going to lose. … After not losing for two months, it’s hard to get too upset about losing a match in our league, where it’s very competitive."
