Mistakes doom Warriors at Cal Baptist

The post-match investigation is expected to show the Hawaii volleyball contributed largely to its 25-14, 24-26, 23-25, 25-21, 15-13 loss to California Baptist on Saturday in Riverside, Calif.

A spring-break crowd of 237 in 1,110-seat Van Dyne Gym watched the Warriors once again implode in the rematch between the teams.

The Warriors had difficulty in the serve-and-pass phase in Friday’s four-set loss. They hit more efficiently in the rematch — .319 overall, including a combined .529 in the final two sets — but could not overcome self-inflicted mistakes.

The Lancers scored 14 points in the first set on UH hitting and serving errors. In the fifth set, the Warriors committed three service errors and never forced the Lancers out of system consistently.

"We talked a lot this week about game management, just taking care of the ball in certain situations we found ourselves in consistently," CBU coach Wes Schneider said. "We did a better job of taking care of it tonight."

UH opposite Brook Sedore produced his best hitting night of the season, slamming 14 kills against one error in 27 swings. Siki Zarkovic had 15 kills, but both had difficulty with their aim on serves.

Sedore had worked his way into the starting lineup with his sizzling serves early in the season. But his serve has been temperamental the past month, and it threw a tantrum in this match. Sedore committed seven service errors. By the fourth set, he abandoned his jump-spin serve for a floater.

Zarkovic entered the weekend with a serving efficiency of 91 percent. He exited with five errors on Saturday.

Meanwhile, outside JP Marks, considered one of the Warriors’ best passers, struggled for the second match and was replaced by Jace Olsen. Olsen, a transfer from Penn State, finished with 10 kills against one error and hit .474.

Despite the problems in the bookend sets, the Warriors appeared to find their groove.

"They were getting comfortable, and that’s what brought the (match) a lot closer," Schneider said. "I knew after (Friday) night, the same team wasn’t going to be out there on the other side. They definitely stepped up a lot and played a much cleaner game, which made it a lot tougher for us."

There were signs this would not be UH’s night. Zarkovic’s spike ricocheted off a CBU defender, struck an overhanging speaker and fell softly to setter Brett Anderson. The officials did not stop the action — although it was against house rules — and the Lancers parlayed the break into a point.

The Warriors also were deducted two points, including one at the start of the fourth set, because of rotation violations. Later, Sedore was awarded a yellow card — and the Lancers presented a point — when he was overheard swearing to himself after a mistake.

Left-side hitters Guilherme Koepp and Levi Cabra each finished with 21 kills. Cabral also had 11 digs.

UH fell to 7-14 overall and 6-12 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation with six matches remaining.