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Brad Lawson admittedly netted the butterflies as he stepped toward the service line in the Stan Sheriff Center.
“It was a little nerve-racking,” said Lawson, who flawlessly performed the “Star-Spangled Banner” and “Hawaii Pono‘i” prior to Monday night’s volleyball exhibition.
Lawson and SportConX also were in sync in a 25-22, 25-20, 20-25, 25-18 victory over the University of Hawaii.
Opposite attacker Curt Toppel powered 13 kills and hit .462, and Lawson contributed 12 kills on .385 accuracy. Taylor Crabb added eight kills and hit .300.
“We made only (six) errors in the first set, but they hit for a big number (.439),” UH coach Charlie Wade said. “The two left sides (Lawson and Crabb) are very good.”
Toppel and Lawson are both Stanford graduates who were each named to the All-America first team three times. Crabb, a Punahou School graduate, was the national player of the year as a Long Beach State senior.
“That’s a very good team,” Wade said of SportConX, a semi-pro ensemble that is competing for the Premier Volleyball League’s national title. SCX won exhibition matches against Stanford, Brigham Young and Long Beach State.
“It’s good to be playing some indoor volleyball again,” said Lawson, an ‘Iolani School graduate.
SCX entered with only two practices and a serve-and-pass session in Hawaii. The roster included Mauli‘a LaBarre, a former Warrior who is now a police officer, and former UH libero Vernon Podlewski. Podlewski gained weight from his UH days, but did not lose mobility. He conjured 14 digs in three sets.
“That’s the story right there,” said Jeff Hall, the Rainbow Wahine associate head coach who served as SCX’s uncredited head coach. “Vernon still has it.”
For the Rainbow Warriors, the exhibition was a final test run ahead of Thursday’s match against King in the opener of the Outrigger Hotels Invitational. Wade used 15 players, and started freshman setter Joe Worsley in the back row.
“It was great to get a bunch of guys in,” Wade said. “Obviously, we wanted to win. But I thought we got exactly out of (the match) what we wanted to.”
The Warriors had returning starters at libero (Kolby Kanetake), the left side (Siki Zarkovic and Kupono Fey) and setter (Jennings Franciskovic). During fall training, Stijn van Tilburg, a freshman from the Netherlands, seized the opposite’s job. On Monday, van Tilburg pounded six kills in eight swings in the second set, finishing with nine kills and hitting .412. He was on the sideline for the final two sets, his right shoulder covered with ice packs.
“He was dominant,” Wade said.
After the match, van Tilburg said: “I’m a little bit sore. Coach brought me out because we have four matches this week, and this is only the start of the week. I’m fine. I’ll get better. … I always start a little slow. I don’t know why. But there comes a point when I heat up.”
Hendrik Mol, who opened in the middle, replaced van Tilburg at opposite. Mol, who had one kill in the first two sets, added six more kills at opposite, including four launched from behind the 3-meter line.
Iain McKellar, a converted opposite, proved he has recovered from last year’s torn meniscus. McKellar, a rare left-handed-hitting middle, created matchup problems. He had five kills and an ace.
“It was good to test ourselves,” Zarkovic said. “We wanted to see where we stood against a good team. It was a good test before the actual season starts.”
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