No. 1 Hawaii overcomes ‘erratic’ serving to fend off No. 6 Ball State

Hawaii opened its second national title defense with an early display of dominance.

The top-ranked Rainbow Warriors then had to lean on their resolve late to fend off No. 6 Ball State in a four-set victory on Thursday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

UH outside hitter Spyros Chakas put away 19 kills, Chaz Galloway added 14 and the Warriors overcame a mid-match lull in the 25-16, 25-23, 22-25, 25-17 win before an opening-night crowd of 4,893.

“Glad to get the win against a really good team,” UH coach Charlie Wade said. “Thought we played pretty good in spurts and at other times pretty average. But it’s early in the season, so just glad to get the win and move on.”

UH middle blocker Guilherme Voss finished with 11 kills on 14 error-free swings and All-America setter Jakob Thelle ran an attack that hit .402 in the Warriors’ 10th straight season-opening win.

The Warriors and Cardinals cap their season-opening series today with UH’s 2022 NCAA championship banner to be unveiled before the rematch.

Hawaii ended Ball State’s season in the national semifinals last May at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, rallying for a five-set victory on its way to a second straight NCAA title.

The Warriors raced out to a 20-9 lead in Thursday’s opening set then denied the Cardinals’ comeback late in the second. But Ball State, led by All-America outside hitter Kaleb Jenness, found its rhythm in the third while UH’s efficiency dipped to extend the match.

Galloway put away three kills early in the fourth set and served up an ace to give UH a 10-4 lead and the Warriors regained their consistency from the service line and steadied their passing to close out the win.

“As a passer, I was talking to (libero Brett Sheward) and Spyros that we needed to get Jake up on the net,” Galloway said. “We were passing it off (the net) and it was making his job harder to get a set to us. Getting the middles involved was very important because we were having three hands on the pins.”

The Warriors went on to hit .479 in the set and closed out the match on middle blocker Cole Hogland’s fourth kill of the night.

UH finished with seven aces against 15 errors in a serving performance Wade characterized as “erratic.”

“We survived,” Chakas said. “It wasn’t a perfect game for sure, but we’re going to watch a lot of film on it and we’re going to improve on whatever we need to improve and tomorrow is going to be a lot different, I feel.”

Jenness led Ball State with 18 kills on 39 attempts and was in on three of the Cardinals’ 10 blocks. Punahou graduate Keau Thompson, last year’s All-State Player of the Year, got the start at opposite for Ball State, which also had new starters at setter and libero. Thompson finished with eight kills in 17 swings.

“For us, we progressively got better in terms of how we managed our emotions, and that’s probably the most important,” said Ball State coach and Baldwin alum Donan Cruz. “Sometimes it’s not your day and you gotta fight through those. But I thought emotionally we were always in it … and for as a coaching staff, that’s our big takeaway. We played poorly and we still made some pushes.”

Thelle went to Voss early in the match and the combination accounted for three of UH’s first four points as the Warriors raced out to a 14-6 lead.

“(Voss) and Jakob now have spent a lot of time together and the connection is impressive,” Wade said. “Not only is he scoring, but a lot of times he’s bouncing it. And I think Jakob has gotten a lot more comfortable setting him from all over the court. We don’t need a perfect pass to get him involved.”

UH led 19-13 in the second set, but Ball State chipped away and closed to 21-19. The Cardinals fought off two set points and had a swing to force deuce, but Hogland and Thelle combined on a block of Tinaishe Ndavazocheva to give UH a 2-0 lead in the match.

UH opened the third set with a 4-0 run, including Thelle’s second ace. Ball State went on an 8-2 run to take an 11-10 lead. Ndavazocheva had three kills and a block in a 5-1 run that pushed the Cardinals ahead 16-13. They traded sideouts and Jenness finished off Ball State’s second attempt at set point.

Galloway’s surge helped the Warriors regain the momentum early in the fourth and his final kill gave UH match point.