UCSB shocks Wahine in 5

Fifth-ranked Hawaii’s game showed up an hour late for its Big West Conference volleyball match Friday, and UC Santa Barbara held on just long enough for a 25-21, 25-20, 21-25, 22-25, 15-12 upset.

The Rainbow Wahine team that made UCSB look so good the first hour did not resemble the team that clawed and climbed its way into the country’s elite in any way shape or form.

Hawaii was shockingly bad, before a Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 5,865 that wouldn’t give up on it.

The Gauchos, who started four freshmen, were just as relentless as the crowd. They kept coming at UH in the third and fourth sets and never blinked in the fifth, scoring six of the last nine points.

Seniors Emily Hartong and Katey Thompson came into the match 1-2 in Big West kills.

Hartong led Hawaii with 20, but none of her teammates could manage more than eight — with three hitting .000 or worse.

Thompson had 19 kills for the Gauchos (8-8, 3-1 BWC) and was in on 11 of their 17 stuffs.

Hawaii (15-2, 4-1) saw its NCAA-best 77-match regular-season conference winning streak come to a screeching halt, along with its 13-match winning streak.

It hosts Cal Poly tonight.

Hawaii played at a level so low in the opening set it wasn’t even recognizable. It had no energy, no blocks and couldn’t even hit double digits in digs, allowing the Gauchos to hit .438 — more than 200 points above their average.

UCSB gave Hawaii six missed serves and still the Wahine never got close after falling into a 12-6 hole.

Somehow, they began the second set looking even worse. Santa Barbara scored 11 of the first 14 points, forcing UH to burn both timeouts in the first 10 minutes.

The Wahine made some small runs and finally got their first block — 50 minutes into the match. They got within 21-19 on their third stuff but they still had no rhythm and no confidence.

UCSB called its last timeout. In the final five serves, Tai Manu-Olevao — the only UH hitter without an error until then — got stuffed twice and whiffed on set point.

When she had two early errors in the third, senior Ashley Kastl replaced her and UH finally found a spark.

Kastl served four in a row to put the Wahine up 12-8. Another 4-0 run with Ali Longo serving made it 20-13. Hawaii held off the Gauchos in that set, Hartong ending it with her 13th kill.

The All-American pulled UH to a 7-2 advantage in the fourth. UCSB scored the next seven, but Sarah Mendoza served five to put the Wahine up 14-11.

The Gauchos would get within one at 22-21, but Hawaii held them off again with Hartong’s 17th kill forcing the decisive set.