Smith Fieldhouse … where good volleyball teams, even great volleyball teams, have seen hopes, dreams, winning streaks and seasons end. Hawaii has been one of those since 1990.
The Rainbow Warriors have not fared well in the cozy confines of Brigham Young’s 5,000-seat, 68-year-old gym, where the predominately student fan base is loud, distracting and very in-your-face with not a lot of room between the baseline seating and the baselines.
Add the altitude — elevation 4,551 feet — and thinner air and Hawaii teams visiting Provo, Utah, have had some trouble acclimating. Not to mention the Cougars have had some pretty impressive squads.
Hawaii has not won in Smith since 2003, a losing streak of 15, and is 3-25 all-time. The Warriors have only taken 10 sets off the Cougars in the 28 visits, three times the matches going five.
“Obviously, they have a history of dominating,” said Hawaii libero Gage Worsley, ranked second nationally in digs (2.73 per set). “That environment is pretty hectic. We just have to play our game and we’ll be fine.
“I’m super excited to get on the court and see what it’s all about. I’ve never played there, but I was there the last time. Hawaii got swept both nights.”
Only five of the current Warriors played in Provo two years ago: seniors Stijn van Tilburg, Joe Worsley and Brett Rosenmeier, and juniors Patrick Gasman and Rado Parapunov. Van Tilburg had the most success in the opener, with 16 kills in the 28-26, 25-18, 25-20 loss. He had 17 kills the next night when Hawaii fell 25-19, 25-23, 28-26.
That 2017 team lost just twice more, the last coming in the NCAA championship semifinal to host Ohio State. Brigham Young was on the other side of the bracket in Columbus, also losing to the Buckeyes.
One advantage on this trip, Gage Worsley said, is the Warriors will have two matches in Smith prior to Saturday’s meeting with the Cougars. They’ll face MIVA member McKendree (9-8) on Thursday and EIVA member Princeton (10-9) on Friday.
“It’s good that we’ll play two teams before the Cougars,” he said. “The ball moves different up there and it’s good to be able to adjust to that.
“This is the beginning of a tough road trip. If we can get through this, we can get through anything. It will test our mental toughness, which we have, and I think we can bring it.”
Former BYU libero Jaylen Reyes, Nebraska’s beach volleyball coach, compared the Smith Fieldhouse experience to that of Hawaii’s Stan Sheriff Center.
“The first time you go there, it’s an awing experience,” the Kamehameha graduate said. “It takes you maybe a set to realize it’s just another volleyball game.
“I would say it’s a combination of things that makes it a challenge — the altitude, BYU’s good, it’s a cracker box. You have the BYU students who literally can pull on your shirt as you’re about to serve on one side. It’s a cool environment to play in.”
After the BYU tournament, Hawaii heads to Concordia-Irvine (10-14) for a match Tuesday. Then the Warriors travel for two Big West matches against improved UC San Diego (7-13, 0-4) on March 29 and 30.
“The road will be a challenge for sure — it always is when playing teams in their own gym,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said. “There are no easy matches. We’ll need to play well and hopefully come home a better team.
“This group has traveled well. We went to Japan in fall. And a lot of our guys have traveled a lot, especially internationally with their nation teams. The tough part is we usually play better in wide-open spaces. (Smith) is a smaller place.”
The Cougars are down to their third-string setter in 6-foot-4 freshman Brody Earnest, who replaced the injured Cyrus Fa’alogo in Set 2 of a reverse sweep of UCLA. Fa’alogo, a junior, had replaced junior Wil Stanley (Punahou), who hasn’t played since being injured in Set 3 of the March 2 match at Stanford.
Hawaii hasn’t suffered a serious injury this season. Gasman went down in Set 2 of Saturday’s match with Cal State Northridge with an ankle problem. It was more of a muscle strain and he’s been cleared to practice.
BYU INVITATIONAL
At Provo, Utah
Thursday
No. 2 Hawaii (17-0) vs. McKendree (9-8), noon
Friday
Hawaii vs. Princeton (10-9), noon
Saturday
Hawaii at No. 8 Brigham Young (11-6), 3 p.m.
TV: Spectrum Ch. 409 (Saturday only)
PARAPUNOV WINS AVCA AWARD
On Tuesday Parapunov was named the AVCA national player of the week for the second time in three weeks. The 6-foot-9 Bulgarian is just the second Warrior to win the national award twice in oneseason. The other was Costas Theocharidis in 2001.
It is the 23rd national POW award for the Hawaii program.
Parapunov, named the Big West player of the week on Monday, had another impressive week inhelping lead No. 2 Hawaii (17-0) to a pair of sweeps over Cal State Northridge. He hit .733 on Friday with 12 kills and .520 with 17 kills on Saturday to up his national-leading hitting percentage to.533.
