Kanetake collects milestone in UH win

It was a night of milestones.

Senior libero Kolby Kanetake moved into the Top 10 in career digs and junior hitter Kupono Fey literally came of age, turning 21 as well as putting down 13 kills.

Along the way, No. 6 Hawaii won its 13th consecutive home match, turning back Grand Canyon 25-20, 25-22, 28-26 Thursday night at the Stan Sheriff Center. Freshman opposite Stijn van Tilburg had a team-high 14 kills for the Rainbow Warriors (5-1) and senior hitter Siki Zarkovic added 12 — including the match-ender — inching closer to the 1,000-kill career mark.

It also was a night where a crowd of 1,703 saw Hawaii outblocked 9-3.

“We’re still a work in progress with that, especially on the right side,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said. “That was a good team we played, they ran a fast attack.

“It was nice to see Kupono have a nice night and we were able to get some guys in (Set 3) like Nainoa (freshman middle Frank) and Joe (freshman setter Worsley). Getting that experience will help us down the road.”

The ‘Lopes (5-1) got a match-high 15 kills from senior hitter Gerrard Lipscombe, whose service ace gave Grand Canyon a shot at forcing a fourth set when it took a 26-25 lead. GCU trailed 24-22 before holding off two match points, then held off a third after a kill by junior middle Iain McKellar made it 25-24.

A service error by Lipscombe tied it for the 18th and last time at 26. Sophomore hitter Shalev Saada, who finished with 10 kills, hit wide and Zarkovic ended it after 1 hour and 50 minutes with his 992nd career kill.

“We’re still working on our chemistry and that needs time,” Fey said. “We’ll keep working at getting better.”

Hawaii doesn’t have to wait long for another chance. The Warriors and ‘Lopes meet again at 7 p.m. today.

Three Hawaii prep products saw the court for Grand Canyon, including sophomore libero Sky Engleman (Moanalua), who finished with 11 digs. Sophomore setter Puna Kaniho (Kamehameha) had 11 assists setting Set 3 and sophomore hitter Cullen Mosher (Kamehameha) was used as a serving specialist in all three sets.

“I can’t express how great it was to play here,” Engleman said. “It was so nice to have so many family and friends supporting us, and they say there will be more tomorrow.

“For us, it wasn’t what we needed to do (at the end of Set 3) to go to four. It was about what we needed to do all night, especially with better ball control.”

Kanetake passed Aaron Wilton (593) on the career digs list and is 17 away from passing Nejc Zemljak (615) for ninth place.

Note

Tickets are still available for Sunday’s A’o A Koa Warrior volleyball fundraiser. The sixth annual event starts at 6 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Individual tickets are $75. For information, call 956-9931.

The Warriors will honor former All-American Allen Allen (1986-89) as their distinguished alumnus.