The season opener pretty much went according to script for No. 7 Hawaii on Thursday night, with the Rainbow Warriors getting to play their entire roster against overmatched Erskine while opening defense of their Outrigger Resorts Volleyball Invitational title with a sweep.
But there was one late revision that even sophomore Larry “Tui” Tuileta was unaware of until after the Rainbow Warriors were up 2-0 on the Flying Fleet. That’s when Tuileta, who hadn’t played in a collegiate match since 2015 while at USC, was told to switch his green libero jersey for white and move to outside hitter for Set 3.
“I was not expecting to play outside,” Tuileta said. “We were told that everyone was going to play, so when I was done at libero (after Set 1), I thought I was done.”
Tuileta was far from it. The national high school player of the year as a senior at Punahou electrified the Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 1,817 with five kills on eight swings and added two aces while serving the final seven points in Hawaii’s 25-11, 25-17, 25-9 sweep of Erskine.
Two other freshman hitters — Rado Parapunov and Brandon Rattray — each had five kills in Set 2, with Rattray in on three blocks. Freshman hitter Austin Matautia had four of the team’s 13 aces in Set 1.
“I thought our freshmen did well,” senior middle Hendrik Mol, the only Warrior to play all three sets, said. “They looked confident tonight.
“It was great for Tui to get to hit. We used all 16, which was the goal, and it was nice to get the ‘W.’ ”
The 73 minutes was not enough time to gauge how good this edition of the Warriors (1-0) will be. A bigger test will come in tonight’s match with Princeton (0-1).
The young Tigers had five chances to pull off the upset of No. 15 Ball State in Thursday’s tournament opener but couldn’t close it. The Cardinals (1-0) survived the two-hour-plus marathon, 25-17, 22-25, 23-25, 25-19, 21-19.
The Flying Fleet (0-1), led by seven kills from Isaac Lanier, will face the Cardinals at 4 p.m. today. The tournament concludes Saturday with Erskine against Princeton at 4 p.m. and Hawaii against Ball State at 7.
“Everyone was super excited to get the season started,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said. “It’s always good to get that first win under your belt, always good to play someone else.
“Tomorrow will be about steadying out. There’s things we can clean up. At this point of the season, you’re still more concerned about your side. But what we do know is we’ve gone from having one guy who can serve north of 60 (mph) to having almost everyone able to bring it. That’s impactful.”
And lethal. It started with the first two serves of the match from senior setter Jennings Franciskovic. Hawaii had as many aces (8) as kills in Set 1, including three of Matautia’s four aces coming during a 4-0 run that put the Warriors up 24-10.
Wade went to his bench early and often, starting with Set 2, in which the only starter left from Set 1 was Mol. The lone ace of Set 2 came from freshman hitter James Anastassiades, whose two seconds of initial playing time ended the set with a zinger that the Erskine serve-receive couldn’t handle.
The changes continued in Set 3 with the last of the 16-player roster making an appearance in Hawaii’s third opposite — senior Iain McKellar — and third libero — freshman Evan LaRochelle — and Tuileta moved to outside.
The Warriors had just eight service rotations in Set 3, with only Tuileta and sophomore setter Joe Worsley serving twice. At 12-7 and Worsley on the back line for the second time, Hawaii ran off five straight to pull away at 17-7.
Ball State 3, Princeton 2
Matt Szews put down 19 kills and Mitch Weiler added 15 as the Cardinals ended the marathon on their second swing at match point.
Greg Luck led the Tigers with 19 kills and Kendall Ratter had 13. Princeton had five chances at earning one of its biggest upsets in recent memory, the last at 19-18, but couldn’t close.
