UC Irvine serves up heat

UC Irvine served notice that its power game is one of the nation’s best in a decisive 25-17, 25-19, 25-21 volleyball victory over Hawaii at the Stan Sheriff Center on Sunday.

There were some concerns whether the match would be played because of a neighboring fire that destroyed most of a portable complex and covered parts of the Lower Campus in thick smoke. The fire was eventually quelled. But, as it turned out, it was the Anteaters’ dominant serving that could not be doused.

The Anteaters slammed seven aces and, more significantly, kept the Warriors on the heels of their Asics with system-disruptive serves. The Anteaters scored 35 points on plays initiated by their serves, including 14 in the final set. The Warriors’ serves produced 18 points.

"They’re not ranked the No. 1 serving and sideout team in the nation for nothing," UH libero Nick Castello said. "Hat’s off to them. They’re a great team."

The Anteaters missed 18 serves but never geared down their aggressive approach.

"They have no problems missing serves because they know they can sideout," UH head coach Charlie Wade said. "They have jumpers with big arms."

Speraw acknowledged the Anteaters have enough weapons to provide a margin of service errors.

"We can, but I’d rather not," Speraw said. "Our service game has a lot of room for improvement in terms of where we locate the ball and our consistency."

In the first set, the Anteaters committed errors on two of their first three serves before middle blocker Dan McDonnell stepped behind the service line. He served five points in a row, including consecutive aces, to give the Anteaters an 8-3 lead.

"He got us off to a great start," said Speraw, who gives approval for McDonnell to jump-serve. "He set the tone for the match. I thought he had a nice night."

Wade said: "If anybody is going to serve that many times (in one rotation), you’re going to win that set. That got away from us."

In Friday’s match between the teams, opposite attacker Carson Clark burned the Warriors with 19 kills from several launching posts. While Clark and left-side hitter Jeremy Dejno served well, they struggled with their attacks.

But the second left-side hitter, Kevin Tillie, blasted 10 kills with only one error, and McDonnell contributed seven kills on 10 swings.

"I was a little bit tired from the last (match)," Clark said. "It’s great everyone stepped up and did everything so I didn’t have to go off. It was a good job by everybody."

Speraw said: "Two of our more consistent players have been Jeremy Dejno and Carson Clark, and they had a pretty poor night, and we still managed to win. A lot of that had to do with our service game."

The Warriors scrambled for the right combinations. Wade used 12 players and called for a double switch in the third set. Stanley Hinkle started the final set, producing five kills in six swings. He was one of five freshmen and eight first-year Warriors to play.

"That speaks to where our roster is right now," Wade said.

Still, the Warriors had their moments.

"We can apply pressure," Wade said. "It’s sustaining the pressure. And it was against one of the more talented teams to come around in a while. It’s hard to score real points against them, even when you apply some real pressure serving. They’ve got guys who can bail them out."

The second-ranked Anteaters improved to 9-2 overall and 5-2 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The Warriors, who fell to 6-7 and 3-5, face top-ranked UCLA this weekend.

"I know we’re not the best team in America right now," Speraw said. "But I think we can be if we improve in certain areas."