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It was a “Jimmy B Goode” kind of night for James “Jimmy” Anastassiades on Thursday.
The ‘B’ side junior hitter for No. 2 Hawaii had been struggling at the service line in his limited baseline appearances this season, with seven errors prior to going back to serve at 23-7 in Set 3 against King.
Anastassiades’ 60-plus mph heater landed in the middle of the Tornado’s defense for the Rainbow Warriors’ season-high 13th ace for match point. A minute later, he nailed his lone swing of the night — a back-row attack off a set from libero Gage Worsley — to finish off a 25-8, 25-15, 25-7 sweep of King in the second match of the 25th Outrigger Hotels & Resorts Invitational.
A Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 1,683 saw Hawaii (13-0) tie the program record for best start and extend its NCAA-record consecutive sets won to 39 with their 13th straight sweep. It was the shortest match of the season, at 69 minutes, with the Warriors’ ‘B’ side siding-out at 100 percent in Set 3 (not allowing King to score back-to-back points) as well as putting down 10 kills with no errors on 15 attempts.
Hawaii can surpass the 1996 NCAA runner-up team for the best start in program history with a victory over No. 15 Ball State in today’s 7 p.m. match. The Cardinals (9-9) were swept by No. 6 Pepperdine in 81 minutes, 25-13, 25-23, 25-21, in Thursday’s opener.
The Waves (12-4) and Tornado (10-6) meet at 4 p.m. today. The round-robin event concludes Saturday.
Hawaii was looking to avoid a letdown after last week’s high of two road sweeps at No. 3 UC Irvine. Except for playing a little loose in Set 2, the Warriors stayed focused against Division II King (10-6).
“We knew we had to focus on what we could control, and that we keep the standard of our volleyball level high,” Anastassiades said. “We’re halfway through the season and there’s no time to slack.
“That kill (his 20th of the season) felt super good, especially coming from our libero. And the ace (his second) was great. I promise myself that I’m not going to miss a serve. But I did (at 23-12 in Set 2), so I will be back in the gym (today) and serving 100 balls in.”
Hawaii had 11 service errors to its 13 aces, a ratio that is palatable. Warriors coach Charlie Wade said he’d like to see things get a little tighter tonight.
“Ball State is a really good team and we’ll have to play better to win,” he said. “It was really good to get our ‘B’ team some work. Siding-out at 100 percent is pretty productive and efficient.”
Hawaii, the nation’s top team in hitting percentage (.478) coming into the week, finished at .540. The Set 3 score against the Tornado was the fewest points for an opponent this season, surpassing the eight by King in Set 1 and the nine by Lincoln Memorial in Set 1 on Feb. 17.
The match also saw senior hitter Stijn van Tilburg move into 11th place on Hawaii’s kill chart, his five Thursday night giving him 1,170. He is eight away from passing Pono Ma’a for No. 10.
Senior middle Dalton Solbrig led the Warriors with eight kills playing in two sets, and junior hitter Colton Cowell had three aces. Worsley, the only one to play all three sets, finished with 11 digs, his sixth match in double digits.
Senior middle Patrick Gasman hit .778 with seven kills on no errors. The country’s block leader (1.667 per set) was in on four of Hawaii’s five blocks.
King had just 12 kills all night, a team-high four by sophomore hitter Sean Kohlhase.
It didn’t take long for Hawaii to start dominating King. Seven minutes into the match, the Warriors were up 12-1, with the Tornado’s lone point coming on senior setter Joe Worsley’s service error.
Van Tilburg served eight straight, opening his baseline stint with an ace. Eleven minutes later, van Tilburg’s second ace ended it, holding an opponent to what was then a season-low eight points.
Pepperdine 3, Ball State 0
Senior hitter Michael Wexter had 12 kills and 12 digs, and senior hitter Kaleb Denmark added 11 kills without an error in the Waves’ sweep.
Pepperdine opened the match on a 6-0 run and was never really threatened the rest of the night. Ball State led once, at 1-0, in Set 2.
Sophmore hitter Ben Chinnici had 13 kills for the Cardinals.
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