Warriors wrap up trip with sweep

The University of Hawaii volleyball team called in the reserves for a 25-22, 25-21, 25-15 victory over Pacific at the Spanos Center in Stockton, Calif., on Tuesday night. 

The Rainbow Warriors completed a four-matches-in-five-days trip at 2-2 to improve to 13-10 overall and 11-9 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. 

It was the Warriors’ final match against Pacific, which is discontinuing its men’s volleyball program after this season. 

The Warriors have ruled the Tigers since 1993, finishing the series at 44-1. The Warriors have won the past 35 matches against the Tigers, including 18 in a row in Stockton. 

The outcome was predictable, despite a couple of lineup twists. 

Johann Timmer, the Warriors’ serving specialist, started at left-side hitter in place of Siki Zarkovic. Timmer, a senior from New Zealand, finished with career highs in kills (15), hitting percentage (.522) and blocks (four). He also passed eight serves without an error. 

"Some of the motivation behind (Timmer’s start) is he’s done everything so right," UH coach Charlie Wade said. "He’s one of the best students. He has the highest grade-point average (on the team). He does everything right on and off the court. We want to reward that kind of behavior. He came out and played great."

The Warriors’ best attacker, opposite Brook Sedore, injured his right ankle in the second set. Wade said the injury does not appear to be serious, and Sedore should be helped by the break before UH’s next match in two weeks. 

"He’ll rub some dirt on it and be ready to go," Wade said. 

Hendrik Mol, a freshman from Norway, replaced Sedore, and amassed five kills in 10 swings. 

"Hendrik is a really good athlete," Wade said. "He’ll be a good player for us. He came in and hit .400. He had some really nice serves. It’s nice to get him out there and give him some nice quality court time. He was impressive."

In Monday’s match, the Warriors turned down the velocity on their serves. On Tuesday, Wade said, "guys were cracking it."

The Warriors put 92 percent of their serves in play, scored 35 natural points on 73 serves, and had seven aces but only six errors. 

"You never see that in volleyball and certainly not in men’s volleyball," Wade said of the favorable ace-to-error ratio. 

In the second set, UH middle Nick West, who did not start, hammered a kill for an 18-17 lead. Then West went behind the line, where he served four points in a row, including two aces. 

UH’s other middle, Taylor Averill, contributed 12 kills on .647 hitting and had four blocks. 

Tommy Carmody led Pacific with nine kills.