So many times a Hawaii team has hit the road only to have the road hit back. And hard.
Not this time. Not for the top-ranked Rainbow Warriors volleyball team.
Hawaii, its remarkable run continuing, returns home today from the six-matches-in-10-days mainland trek and its undefeated season in tact. The Warriors (23-0, 6-0 Big West) also kept their NCAA-record consecutive-sets-won mark alive, extending it to 69 via a 25-17, 25-17, 25-16 conference sweep of UC San Diego on Saturday night in La Jolla, Calif.
It was the eighth straight win in RIMAC Arena for Hawaii and the 13th consecutive victory over UCSD (7-14, 0-5). It lasted just 84 minutes, but it was more than long enough for the Warriors, who are “ready to come home,” coach Charlie Wade said.
“We were running on fumes,” he said in a telephone call. “I’m proud of how the guys gutted it out. We were gassed, but we got through it.
“I started seeing it on Tuesday (at Concordia-Irvine). You could just tell we weren’t moving to the ball like we normally do, weren’t our typically efficient self. It speaks to the conditioning and effort our guys have put in in the weight room to go 6-0 on this grueling trip and still not drop a set.
“I’m not sure I’ll ever do that (long of a road trip) again.”
Still, Hawaii hit .471, just off its nation-leading .481. A night after finishing with a season-high 12 blocks, the Warriors had seven — not far off their 2.80 per set that also leads the country.
Junior opposite Rado Parapunov had a match-high 18 kills, hitting .640, his first of two errors coming early in Set 2. Senior hitter Stijn van Tilburg, giving way to senior Brett Rosenmeier in Set 3, finished with seven kills and one error on 11 attempts.
Senior middle Patrick Gasman had no errors in adding four kills, the eighth time in the past nine matches he had no hitting errors. Senior setter Joe Worsley, the reigning conference player of the week, just missed out on a double-double, finishing with 32 assists and nine digs.
Sophomore hitter Wyatt Harrison, son of former Warrior Todd, led UCSD with 14 kills and a career-high three aces.
“Harrison didn’t play well Friday,” Wade said. Harrison had eight kills and seven errors with no aces Friday. “We knew he’d come back.”
Hawaii opened very sluggish, falling behind 9-7 with three service errors, consecutive aces by Harrison, and senior middle Dalton Solbrig being blocked. The Warriors trailed 13-12, then went on a a 10-2 tear behind the service of Parapunov and junior hitter Colton Cowell.
In Set 2, Hawaii jumped out to 4-0, 9-3 and 18-13 leads en route to a 2-0 advantage. The Warriors used three Tritons errors, a kill by Cowell and a solo block by Parapunov on Macune Gilruth to open Set 3 7-2. UCSD came as close as 11-9 but no closer as Hawaii got five more kills down the stretch, including the match-ender.
Hawaii closes out its home regular-season schedule with No. 3 UC Santa Barbara on Friday and Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Gauchos (16-4, 3-2) swept Cal State Northridge 25-20, 25-22, 32-30 on Saturday.
