Rainbow Warriors end slump against UCSB

In a volleyball upset that was four years in the making, ninth-ranked Hawaii outlasted No. 3 UC Santa Barbara in four sets on Friday night.

A Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 1,985 saw the Warriors end a seven-match losing streak in this Mountain Pacific Sports Federation series by a score of 25-23, 25-23, 24-26, 27-25.

"We talked about it, how a lot of the guys have never beaten Santa Barbara," UH setter Jennings Franciskovic said. "It’s been a long time. I’m getting chills right now. It feels really great."

It was the MPSF opener for both teams.

Opposite Brook Sedore led the Warriors with a season-high 19 kills and hit .405.

"It’s a win, but I’m not satisfied with it at all," Sedore said. "We might have lost it. They gave it to us. We didn’t win that."

Sedore said in the 10-minute intermission between the second and third sets, the Warriors spoke of championship aspirations.

"If we want to be a national-championship team, we have to close it out," Sedore said, referring to the third-set collapse.

After holding on to win the first two sets, the Warriors built several four-point leads in the third, the last at 23-19.

But the Gauchos, who run a fast and diverse offense, chipped away with system-disrupting serves and an all-points attack. They scored six of the final seven points of the third set.

"That third set was a bummer," UH middle Taylor Averill said.

In the fourth set, the Gauchos surged to leads of 14-11 and 19-16. But the Warriors, relying on Sedore’s powerful swing from the front and back right, and an active defense, forced ties at 23, 24 and 25.

UH middle Davis Holt then hit a cutting shot to put the Warriors ahead 26-25.

On the next play, initiated by Holt’s serve, left-side hitter Kupono Fey hit a line shot that tipped off a blocker for aloha point.

"Four deuce sets against the No. 3 team," UH coach Charlie Wade marveled after the match.

The Gauchos "are really good. They had a nice little lead in the fourth, and we battled back and won. That’s what I really liked. That really shows the guys are dialed in. If you can do that against a team of that caliber, it bodes well for us."

With setter Jonah Seif at the controls, the Gauchos had multiple hitting options. Opposite Kevin Donahue had 16 kills, with eight launched behind the 3-meter line. Left-side hitters Jacob Delson (16 kills) and Weston Nielsen (13) feasted on quick sets to the pins or to the pipe. At 6 feet 8, Seif also was an offensive threat on second-touch swings .

"Their setter is really great," Averill said. "They run a great offense. They run a very fast outside attack. As a middle, it keeps you guessing."

In the past week’s practices, the B team ran bic plays and quick-outside plays to give the first rotation a preview of the Gauchos’ rat-a-tat attack.

"I felt we could have blocked more, especially for me," Averill said. "There were a few that squeaked by I could have grabbed."

Averill finished with 15 kills and contributed to seven of the Warriors’ 15 blocks.

Siki Zarkovic added 14 kills, and Fey hit .385.

The teams meet Sunday, with first serve at 5 p.m.

Friday

Hawaii def. UC Santa Barbara, 25-23, 25-23, 24-26, 27-25

CSUN def. UC San Diego 25-20, 25-13, 25-21

Stanford def. Cal Baptist 25-16, 15-25, 28-30, 25-15, 15-11

USC def. Pepperdine 25-23, 20-25, 25-14, 26-24

BYU def. UCLA 25-11, 25-17, 25-17

Saturday

UC Irvine at Long Beach State

UCLA at BYU

Sunday

UC Santa Barbara at Hawaii, 5 p.m.

Monday

Stanford at USC

NO. 9 HAWAII DEF. NO. 3 UC SANTA BARBARA  25-23, 25-23, 24-26, 27-25

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 — UCSB 3 (Nielsen, Donohue, Seif). Hawaii 2 (Sedore, Averill). Service errors — UCSB 13 (Delson 5, Staahl 2, Seif 2, Hardy 2, Nielsen, Donohue). Hawaii 14 (Franciskovic 4, Averill 3, Zarkovic 3, Sedore 2, Fey 2). Assists — UCSB 59 (Seif 55, Boehle 4). Hawaii 61 (Fracniskovic 57, Zarkovic 2, Fey 2). T — 2:35. A — NA. Referees — Bill Forrester, Dan Hironaka.