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The Viking Chant on aloha ball was never more apropos than Friday when No. 5 Hawaii swept the Vikings of Grand View. Led by sophomore opposite Stijn van Tilburg’s 10 kills in two sets and a rotating cast of efficient characters, the Rainbow Warriors won their 18th straight home volleyball match against a nonconference opponent, 25-21, 25-19, 25-13 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Freshman opposite Rado Parapunov added nine kills off the bench in Set 3, hitting 1.000, as Hawaii used 13 players to improve to 7-2. Sophomore Larry Tuileta, moving from libero to hitter in Set 3, had two kills to go with a team-high eight digs in the 89-minute contest.
“It’s always fun to play outside when you don’t expect to,” Tuileta said. “It was nice to play at home after a tough road trip. The road showed us what we need to work on, so it was nice to get back in our home gym and get back into a rhythm.”
Hawaii was rarely out of sync, despite the various lineup changes. As the crowd of 2,016 witnessed in Set 2, it was going to be one of those nights for Hawaii when senior middle Hendrik Mol mistimed a right-handed attack but still put the kill down left-handed to put the Warriors up 17-10.
Or, as Grand View coach Donan Cruz thought after Parapunov’s perfect performance as a reserve, “What are you going to do?”
“We obviously didn’t have the depth to make adjustments to their lineup changes,” said Cruz, a Baldwin High graduate who started the Grand View program six years ago. “I thought we played well for parts of the match but the consistency of their serve-and-pass game took us out of a rhythm.
“We made errors and UH took advantage. That was the challenge, to play a team that has that many options and to keep our brains going. We found out what it was like to play in the Sheriff Center and hopefully that experience will help us Sunday.”
The teams meet again at 5 p.m. Sunday.
Freshman hitter John Chamone, in his first match of the season after an injury, had 10 kills for Grand View (3-1), the top-ranked team in the NAIA. The Vikings’ top scorer, senior middle Savilit Bartley (Kamehameha) was held to one kill as Grand View’s lack of consistent passing didn’t allow for much of a middle attack.
Cruz also will get one of his other players from Hawaii back for the rematch. Junior Adrian Faitalia (Saint Louis) missed Friday to attend his sister’s wedding.
“As Hawaii coach Charlie Wade had promised earlier in the week, he went to his bench often. Sophomore setter Joe Worsley made his first start of the season and had the Warriors hitting .312 in Set 1.
Grand View, last year’s NAIA national runner-up, kept it close early, taking its last lead at 16-15. Hawaii ran off three straight to go ahead for good, 18-16.
The Warriors swapped setters in Set 2, going with senior Jennings Franciskovic, and little changed. Worsley returned in Set 3, kept feeding a hot Parapunov, and Tuileta showed his explosiveness in a limited hitting role.
“We’ve got so many guys that are so close (in talent),” Wade said. “There’s not a huge difference between the first guy and the No. 4 guy on the depth chart. Then you’ve got a libero (Tuileta) who was hitting .625 coming into tonight (after six sets) and goes .667 tonight. … It’s nice to know we can have different looks that work.”
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