Hawaii steps up to beat UC Irvine

In a freaky-Friday reversal, the Hawaii volleyball team made all the right moves for a 25-22, 25-19, 24-26, 26-24 road upset of No. 4 UC Irvine in the Bren Center.

The Rainbow Warriors had lost 11 matches in a row in this series, including Wednesday night’s sweep in Irvine. But the Warriors overcame two key injuries and the Anteaters’ best shots to improve to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

The Anteaters fell to 9-3 and 4-2.

"It’s a tough place to win," UH coach Charlie Wade said. "It’s a win on the road. It’s our third league win. We’re happy with that."

Wade said Thursday’s practice "was dragging" until the final segment, a "one-set showdown" between the starters and B team.

"We challenged the guys," Wade said. "The A side responded."

The Warriors would be without their tallest player — 6-9 middle Davis Holt — for Friday’s rematch. Holt was suffering from an ankle injury. During pre-match warmups, it was learned outside hitter Siki Zarkovic also was suffering from an ankle injury. Zarkovic pleaded to play, insisting he could dig, pass and tool the block with his Asics planted to the court.

Wade considered going with Hendrik Mol before relenting, and offering this deal to Zarkovic: Lead, communicate and "don’t let (the Anteaters) know you’re hurt at all."

Zarkovic responded with 10 kills and a steadying presence.

"He gutted it up, and got some big points for us," Wade said.

Opposite Brook Sedore pounded a team-high 18 kills.

Middle blocker Taylor Averill had 14 kills, hit .522, and assisted on five blocks.

Kupono Fey had six kills, but served 13 points, including aloha ball, and dug Kyle Russell’s free-ball slam.

Setter Jennings Franciskovic, who struggled with his placements on Wednesday, was on the mark. The Warriors hit .310, including .406 in the second and fourth sets.

Wade said 5-foot-8 libero Kolby Kanetake was "a big difference," producing 15 digs.

UCI’s Zack La Cavera had 15 kills, but 27 other swings landed long or were dug, and he hit .190.

"A lot of that was because of Kolby’s digs," Wade said. "He had a bunch of good digs."

Mol did not start, but he came in as the serving specialist. In the second set, three of his serves produced points, including an ace.

"He got us three in a row, and that gave us separation," Wade said.

Zach Radner, who made his first career start, was a serviceable replacement for Holt. He contributed five kills and two blocks.

"There were a lot of good individual performances," Wade said. "The guys were determined. It was a good match for us."

Friday

Hawaii def. UC Irvine 25-22, 25-19, 24-26, 26-24

BYU def. UC San Diego 25-18, 25-17, 25-18

USC def. CSUN  25-16, 25-17, 25-17

Pepperdine def. UC Santa Barbara 22-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-19

Saturday

Long Beach State at Cal Baptist

Stanford at UC Santa Barbara

UC San Diego at BYU

No. 6 hawaii def. 4 UC Irvine 25-22, 25-19, 24-26, 26-24

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 5 (Fey 2, Sedore 2, Mol). UC Irvine 3 (Russell 2, La Cavera). Service errors — Hawaii 11 (Sedore 4, Averill 2, Fey, Leung, Mol, Radner, Zarkovic). UC Irvine 18 (Hershko 4, Russell 4, Benz 3, Saeta 2, Woloson 2, Dominguez, Friedman, La Cavera). Assists — Hawaii 52 (Franciskovic 43, Kanetake 5, Averill, Fey, Sedore, Zarkovic). UC Irvine 57 (Saeta 43, Brinkley 7, Hershko 4, Russell 2, Friedman). T — 2:15. A — 1,000. Referees — Tom Saunders, Donald Orvis.