Hawaii, like March can, went out like a lion. The seventh-ranked Rainbow Warriors put together one of their most dominating performances of the season on Saturday night, needing just 83 minutes in front of 2,350 at the Stan Sheriff Center to dismantle UC San Diego.
In what was called “insane” and “unreal” and “unheard of” by those on both sides of the Big West volleyball match, Hawaii hit .739 with no errors and sided-out at 100 percent in Set 2 of a 25-9, 25-10, 25-14 sweep.
That efficiency also aptly described the performances of junior hitter Brett Rosenmeier, who tied his season high with 14 kills, and junior middle Dalton Solbrig, who tied his career high with eight. Neither committed a hitting error on a combined 28 swings, Rosenmeier hitting .737 and Solbrig .889.
“There was a lot of good energy out there tonight,” junior setter Joe Worsley said after the Warriors (15-6, 3-3) moved into a four-way tie for second in the Big West. “I think this is a good confidence boost going back on the road.
“The last trip we left after the Outrigger (Resorts Invitational, a 3-1 loss to Brigham Young) and we didn’t have the best taste in our mouths. We only have four (regular-season) matches left. It’s time to get going.”
The Warriors head out Wednesday for matches at UC Santa Barbara (10-9, 3-3) this Friday and Saturday. The Gauchos gained a split with Cal State Northridge on Saturday, defeating the Matadors (13-8, 3-3) a night after losing to them.
Also creating the logjam in second is UC Irvine (17-7, 3-3) which lost for a second straight night to top-ranked Long Beach State (21-0, 6-0).
“I haven’t been looking at the standings,” Warriors coach Charlie Wade said. “We know we’re in the playoffs (Big West tournament at LBSU on April 19-21). We just want to win as many as we can from this point.
“That team that we had out there tonight … that’s a team good enough to win the national championship. When Brett and Rado (sophomore opposite Parapunov) are struggling, we’re pretty average. When they’re scoring, we’re pretty good.”
Parapunov had one of his steadiest nights in nearly a month with 12 kills, hitting .429. He was in on four blocks. He and junior hitter Stijn van Tilburg (nine kills) combined for all six of Hawaii’s hitting errors, each with three, as the Warriors hit .558 as a team.
“Hawaii was in a zone tonight,” said UCSD freshman hitter Wyatt Harrison, son of former Rainbow Warrior Todd (1987-88). “Their hitters were going off, we couldn’t stop them. And they really stepped up their blocking from (Friday).
“The biggest difference tonight was on our side. While Hawaii played amazing, we misconnected a lot. But we kept swinging until the last point.”
Harrison was stuffed to end the match on a triple block by Parapunov, Solbrig and Rosenmeier.
The Tritons (9-14, 0-6) barely got out of a negative hitting percentage at .013. Senior opposite Tanner Syftestad, the country’s kill leader (4.76 kps), finished with a team-high six kills, just the second time this season he didn’t reach double figures.
Hawaii’s defense was key, outblocking UCSD 8.5-4.5 and winning the dig battle 38-19. Senior libero Tui Tuileta finished with 11 digs, his second match in a row in double digits.
Rosenmeier started for just the second time in eight matches. “It helps you get into a rhythm right away,” he said. “Coming off the bench is harder to get that rhythm.
“It’s unreal that we could side-out at 100 percent. I don’t think I’ve ever played on a team that’s done that.”
As happened on Friday when Rosenmeier played the final two sets, he brought a stability to Hawaii’s game. The Warriors never trailed in Set 1, holding an opponent to single digits for the first time this season.
Things were going so well for Hawaii that Worsley’s one-handed dig from the deep backcourt arced over the net, landing just inside on the Tritons’ side, making it 24-8.
The Warriors were even more impressive in Set 2, putting down 17 kills with no errors in 23 swings, hitting .739. Hawaii sided out at 100 percent, meaning UCSD never scored two consecutive points.
Set 3 was the most competitive with five ties, the last at 6-6. The Tritons closed to 17-14, only to have van Tilburg’s kill spark an 8-0 closing run by the Warriors to finish the sweep.
