UH surges back to defeat UCLA

The University of Hawaii volleyball team overcame inconsistency and a 2-0 deficit to surge to a 22-25, 23-25, 25-16, 25-19, 15-8 victory over UCLA in Pauley Pavilion on Monday night.

A crowd of 700 watched the top-ranked Rainbow Warriors win their 13th in a row and clinch a host’s role for the April 25 quarterfinals of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation playoffs.

"It’s great for the team, great for the fans," UH coach Charlie Wade said. "The position we’re in now, I don’t think we’re satisfied with just that. We want to win the regular-season title."

The Warriors improved to 20-3 overall and 15-2 in the MPSF. After the quarterfinals, the highest remaining seed hosts the semifinals and championship match. The tournament winner earns the league’s automatic berth in the six-team NCAA tournament. The MPSF regular-season winner has historically earned an NCAA spot.

All of those plans nearly imploded when the Warriors had difficulty passing the Bruins’ best serves and navigating an active block.

"We weren’t siding out like we usually do," Wade said. "We weren’t really attacking smart. We were hitting into the big block or the bottom of the block instead of the top when the situation dictated it."

After the second set, Wade went to the sideline, summoning setter Alex Jones to replace Jennings Franciskovic. Franciskovic is a better blocker and more game-experienced setter; Jones is more animated.

"When Alex came in, he gave us that emotional lift that he always does," Wade said. "And Siki started playing better."

Siki Zarkovic, the left-side attacker, was hitting .000 after two sets. Jones went to the go-to hitters — Taylor Averill in the middle, and opposite Brook Sedore and Zarkovic at the pins.

Wade altered the rotation twice before finding the right matchup for Sedore, who finished with 13 kills.

"At that point," Wade said, "you’re pushing buttons and hoping you get the matchup you’re looking for."

Jones, meanwhile, let Zarkovic swing away until he found his rhythm. Zarkovic finished with 18 kills, including five in the fifth set.

"Coming down the stretch," Wade said, "Siki was in vintage form that we’ve seen from him. He was going to score on every ball you put in front of him. The credit goes to Alex for coming in and giving that lift. Siki deserves credit for being the kind of player we know he can be."

Averill, the nation’s best middle, had 16 kills, hit .565 and contributed to six blocks.

After the second set, Zach Radner replaced middle Davis Holt.

"They were just pumping the middle a lot, and Zach was chomping at the bit," Wade said. "I was trying to get a different look. They didn’t know what to expect from Zach. Not only was he able to get some nice touches on the block, we were able to set him and get some kills."

In the first two sets, the Warriors hit .140. With Jones at the controls, the Warriors hit .436 and built a plus-23 advantage in scoring.

Jake Arnitz led UCLA with 13 kills.

The rematch is Tuesday night.

MPSF VOLLEYBALL

x-clinched MPSF Tournament berth
y-clinched MPSF Tournament quarterfinal home match

Tuesday
Hawaii at UCLA, 4 p.m.

Wednesday
CSUN at UC Irvine

Thursday
USC at Pepperdine
Cal Baptist at Stanford

NO. 1 HAWAII DEF. NO. 12 UCLA 22-25, 23-25, 25-16, 25-19, 15-8

Key — s: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct: hitting percentage; d: digs; bs: block solo; ba: block assists. Service Aces —
Hawaii 3 (Hartley, Zarkovic, Sedore). UCLA 3 (Stahl 2, Hessenauer). Service errors — Hawaii 16 (Sedore 4, Averill 3, Holt 2, Mol 2, Hartley, Franciskovic, Zarkovic, Radner, Fey). UCLA 14 (Stahl 4, Arnitz 3, Hessenauer 3, Hatch 2, Matheis, Martin). Assists — Hawaii 62 (Jones 36, Franciskovic 22, Kanetake 2, Fey 2). UCLA 50 (Matheis 47, Kersten, Hessenauer, Bantle). T — 2:21. A — 700. Referees — Larry Schwartz, Louis Ventura.