It’s not exactly the four corners of the world, but close enough for Hawaii’s version of the United Nations. The parents of the four Rainbow Warrior seniors came from near and far … very far … to attend tonight’s festivities at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Hawaii (hitter Kupono Fey), California (setter Jennings Franciskovic), Norway (middle Hendrik Mol) and England (opposite Iain McKellar) … the volleyball globe is well represented for the Warriors’ final two regular-season home matches. No. 4 Hawaii got the celebration started a night early, led by sophomore opposite Stijn van Tilburg’s 13 kills, sweeping No. 14 Cal State Northridge 25-18, 25-23, 26-24 on Friday.
A crowd of 2,658 saw the Warriors win their 20th straight at home — 12th consecutive in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play — and close in on their first undefeated home season since 1988, when they went 8-0 in Klum Gym. Hawaii, 16-0 in the Stan Sheriff Center, also finished off its ninth 3-0 victory in a row in 1 hour and 52 minutes.
“I’m not ready yet,” Mol said of senior night. “I’ll have a good night’s sleep then think about it.”
The teams meet again at 7 tonight.
As for why it didn’t go four, “I think it was the crowd supporting us,” Mol said. “They were at our backs, they were the wind in our sails.”
Hawaii hadn’t dropped a set at home since Set 2 against UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 4, winning 31 straight heading into Set 3 Friday night. The Matadors were poised to snap that when they took set point at 24-23 on sophomore hitter Dimitar Kalchev’s 12th kill.
Van Tilburg answered with his 13th to tie for the 12th and last time. The Hawaii block camped out on Kalchev, who hit wide on his next swing and then was shut down on his 23rd attempt to end it.
“We knew he was going line (shot),” van Tilburg said. “He’s a good player, but I knew where the last one was going. At BYU we didn’t pull out the tight games. Tonight, there was more intention to pull the close ones out.
“I think the key tonight was the passing. We had our middles hitting a lot of balls (Mol had seven kills on 10 swings, Patrick Gasman three kills on five attempts) and there was good distribution.”
Hawaii was able to slow down one of the MPSF’s top hitters, the athletic Arvis Greene. He had 10 kills after Set 2, then got away for seven in Set 3 to finish with a match-high 17.
Kalchev, who added 12 kills, had two of CSUN’s three aces. Hurting the Matadors’ momentum were their 13 service errors.
At Brigham Young last week, Hawaii was swept twice, which ended the Warriors’ winning streaks at 15 matches and 32 sets.
“It was kind of nice to be put in that position where we had to have a little drama,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said of the end of Set 3. “Given the circumstances of the last few weeks where we were on that run, couldn’t lose a set, then go to BYU and couldn’t win one. To be in that situation, good to be in that moment.
“There was a little side drama. No. 9 (Kalchev) was talking trash, barking through the net, then makes the last two errors, we block him at the end … that was good.
“But the more relevant piece is we want to send our seniors out on a winning note. They’ve meant a lot to our program, and a win on senior night is something we all desperately want to give them.”
A win tonight goes a long way to keep Hawaii’s hopes alive for a top-four finish and MPSF tournament quarterfinal hosting duties on April 15. The Warriors remain in third and finish out the regular season at UCLA, currently in fifth.
Note
In a battle among the top two teams in the MPSF on Friday, No. 3 Brigham Young outlasted No. 1 Long Beach State, 20-25, 26-24, 25-20, 21-25, 17-15. The teams meet again tonight in Provo, Utah, in what likely determines the title and top seed in the MPSF tournament.
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