Only 72 sets to go.
If No. 1 Hawaii wants to match its national record of 75 consecutive sets won from 2019, that’s how many more the Rainbow Warriors need in order to do so. Hawaii got off to a successful start on that next streak on Friday, sweeping Charleston 25-19, 25-16, 25-16 in a nonconference volleyball match at the Stan Sheriff Center.
As a crowd of 3,217 watched, the Warriors (1-0) needed just 93 minutes to win their seventh straight season opener as well as their 18th in a row at home dating back to 2018. Hawaii did it with depth — 13 played, including all three setters — and efficiency, hitting .450.
>> Click here to see photos of the season opener between Hawaii and Charleston.
Senior hitter Colton Cowell put down 10 kills and senior opposite Rado Parapunov added nine to move up the career chart to 794 to lead the Warriors. Senior middle Patrick Gasman was in on three of the team’s five blocks, hit 1.000 with four kills and added two of Hawaii’s eight aces.
“I think it was a good opening night, lot of our young guys had cold feet, not knowing what to expect,” said Gasman, who celebrated his 23rd birthday on Thursday. “I was jumpy, but once I calmed down, it was good.
“Tomorrow, we want to serve better. We served well but didn’t serve like we do in practice. We did a great job at digging, but we can always be more scrappy.”
The Warriors outdug the Golden Eagles 21-11, with junior libero Gage Worsley finishing with six. The most impressive dig might have been the lone one of the night for senior hitter James Anastassiades, during his serving run late in Set 3 that helped put Hawaii ahead 20-14.
“James has been the best player in our gym the week and a half,” Cowell said. “All of his hard work in his five years shows.
“I think there was a lot of nerves, it being our first game, but I was really impressed by the community support. It motivates us. I thought Charleston came out playing real well and we were able to answer.”
Charleston (0-1), a sixth-year program in West Virginia, got nine kills from junior hitter Max Senica. Five came in a tight Set 1 that had nine ties through 13-13. Gasman’s two aces broke it open, giving the Warriors the lead for good at 15-13.
The Golden Eagles chased most of the night, “frustrated that we didn’t play our style,” Charleston coach Mike Iandolo said. “Our big thing is consistency. Can we stay positive in a match against a good team? Hawaii did everything we thought they were going to do. They’re just really good at it.
“I thought Hawaii was taking good swings on out-of-system balls, taking the swings we talk about, hitting high, hard and off hands, make the other team play defense. They were successful at it and we were not. We’ll have to rebound quickly and need to string it together for longer than half a set.”
The teams meet again at 7 tonight.
If there is an area Hawaii coach Charlie Wade wants to improve, it’s serving. The Warriors had 12 service errors.
“But I liked that we got more efficient as the night went on,” he said. “We went from five errors (in Set 1) to three (in Set 2) to one (in Set 3).
“It was good to get a lot of our young guys in, too.”
Hawaii’s hitting efficiency was impressive, considering the use of three setters. Sophomore Jakob Thelle, making his first career start, played the entire first set and started Sets 2 and 3 before yielding to freshman Brett Sheward (in Set 2) and junior Jackson Van Eekeren (in Set 3).
“It’s a big role to step in for Joe Worsley, so for sure it’s big shoes to fill,” said Thelle, finishing with 22 assists. “But I think just having fun, and growing in the game for every play, that’s what we’re going to do this season. We’re just going to grow from every game, every point to every serve. That’s how we’re going to finish and do our job.”
