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Hawaii balanced its offense and blew by Cal Poly on Friday, sweeping the Mustangs 25-16, 25-19, 25-19 at Mott Athletics Center in San Luis Obispo.
The 12th-ranked Rainbow Wahine (19-4) never trailed in the first two sets. They scored the final six points of the match with Ali Longo serving, to run their Big West volleyball record to 8-3.
They play at UC Santa Barbara tonight. A month ago, the Gauchos ended Hawaii’s 77-match regular-season conference winning streak.
"We need to take care of the little things this time," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "After looking at the film from last time there were so many points we didn’t do more with."
"We want to take away what they want to do to us. Obviously they will be trying to take away what we want to do. It’s just a matter of who can execute."
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3 HAWAII 0 CAL POLY
NEXT: UH vs. UCSanta Barbara, 4:30 p.m. today in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Radio: KKEA, 1420-AM.
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Santa Barbara (13-8, 8-1 BWC) has won its past eight. It is a match behind first-place Cal State Northridge and a match ahead of the Wahine. The Matadors (20-4, 10-1) beat UC Irvine in four Friday.
After getting eight-plus kills from four of its hitters at Cal Poly, Hawaii was finally ready to focus on executing against the Gauchos.
The Wahine out-hit the Mustangs .280-.139. Freshman Nikki Taylor had a match-high 12 kills, hitting .333. Sophomore Tai Manu-Olevao added 11 and hit .375, while middle blocker Kalei Adolpho had eight kills on .429 hitting — her best Big West match this season.
Their contributions gave All-American Emily Hartong a needed breather. She saw a season-low 22 sets and killed nine, to go with 11 digs and an ace off a floater serve — a change from her usual jumper.
"Part of the game plan was not to set Hartong too much, try and save her for tomorrow night," Shoji said. "Mita (Uiato) did a nice job of distributing the ball, and hitting the float (serve) saves Emily’s arm and legs a little bit."
Defensively, the Wahine silenced ‘Iolani graduate Chelsea Hardin and Megan McConnell — the Mustangs’ primary offensive threats.
Hardin was making her first appearance since injuring her finger Oct. 18. She was blocked early and often, hitting negative .077 with six kills and eight errors. McConnell was worse, hitting negative .173 with only three kills.
"We got some early blocks, especially on Hardin," Shoji said. "She wasn’t as effective and that kind of set the tone for the rest of the night. They went away from their offense a little bit."
UH confirmed that tonight’s match will be broadcast live on 1420-AM, beginning with a pregame show at 4:20 p.m.
| BIG WEST STANDINGS |
| |
W |
L |
Pct. |
GB |
All |
| Cal State Northridge |
10 |
1 |
.909 |
— |
20-4 |
| UC Santa Barbara |
8 |
1 |
.889 |
1 |
13-8 |
| Hawaii |
8 |
3 |
.727 |
2 |
19-4 |
| Long Beach State |
6 |
4 |
.600 |
31⁄2 |
13-10 |
| UC Davis |
6 |
5 |
.545 |
4 |
14-10 |
| Cal Poly |
4 |
6 |
.400 |
51⁄2 |
10-13 |
| UC Irvine |
2 |
8 |
.200 |
71⁄2 |
11-13 |
| Cal State Fullerton |
2 |
8 |
.200 |
71⁄2 |
9-13 |
| UC Riverside |
0 |
10 |
.000 |
91⁄2 |
1-21 |
Friday
Hawaii def. Cal Poly 25-16, 25-19, 25-19
Cal State Northridge def. UC Irvine 32-30, 17-25, 25-20, 25-17
Long Beach State def. UC Davis 27-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-23
Today
Hawaii at UC Santa Barbara, 4:30 p.m.
UC Riverside at Cal State Fullerton
UC Davis at UC Irvine
Cal State Northridge at Long Beach State
| No. 12 Hawaii def. Cal Poly |
| 25-16, 25-19, 25-19 |
| Rainbow wahine (19-4, 8-3 bwc) |
| |
S |
K |
E |
ATT |
PCT |
D |
BS |
BA |
PTs |
| Taylor |
3 |
12 |
4 |
24 |
.333 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
15.0 |
| Vorster |
3 |
3 |
3 |
10 |
.000 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
5.0 |
| Manu-Olevao |
3 |
11 |
2 |
24 |
.375 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
12.5 |
| Uiato |
3 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
.333 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
3.0 |
| Hartong |
3 |
9 |
4 |
22 |
.227 |
11 |
0 |
0 |
10.0 |
| Adolpho |
3 |
8 |
2 |
14 |
.429 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
9.5 |
| Goodman, Ka. |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Longo |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
12 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Goodman, Ky. |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Higgins |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Mendoza |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Kastl |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
-1.000 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Kawamura |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1.0 |
| Totals |
3 |
45 |
17 |
100 |
.280 |
44 |
4 |
6 |
55. |
| Mustangs (10-13, 4-6 bwc) |
| |
S |
K |
E |
ATT |
PCT |
D |
BS |
BA |
PTS |
| Gruenewald |
3 |
6 |
3 |
17 |
.176 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
7.5 |
| McConnell |
3 |
3 |
8 |
29 |
-.172 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
5.5 |
| Hardin |
3 |
6 |
8 |
26 |
-.077 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
6.5 |
| Garrett |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Kessler |
3 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1.000 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
1.0 |
| Gera |
3 |
5 |
0 |
11 |
.455 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
6.5 |
| Walters |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1.0 |
| Gorman |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Schleis |
3 |
7 |
4 |
18 |
.167 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
8.0 |
| Williams |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0.5 |
| Sooter |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Kuber |
2 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
1.000 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
3.5 |
| Totals |
3 |
31 |
23 |
106 |
.075 |
31 |
3 |
6 |
40. |
Key — s: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct: hitting percentage; d: digs; bs: block solo; ba: block assists; pts: points (kills plus blocks plus aces). Service Aces — Hawaii 4 (Taylor, Uiato, Hartong, Kawamura). Cal Poly 3 (McConnell 2, Walters). Service errors — Hawaii 3 (Taylor, Uiato, Longo). Cal Poly 3 (Gruenewald, McConnell, Gorman). Assists — Hawaii 43 (Uiato 39, Longo 4). Cal Poly 29 (Kuber 14, Garrett 10, Walters 4, Sooter). T — 1:29. Officials — John Kinyon, Rick Olmstead, Long, Cashmore. A — 978.
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