For anybody still trying to figure out the fifth-ranked Hawaii men’s volleyball team, Friday’s four-set win over UC San Diego said everything one would need to know.
The Rainbow Warriors served tough through the first two sets, slipped up, and then came back to life in defeating the Tritons 25-20, 25-16, 12-25, 25-20 at LionTree Arena in La Jolla, Calif.
Alaka‘i Todd had a team-high 15 kills and freshman Louis Sakanoko served three of Hawaii’s 10 aces as UH recorded nine in the first two sets before holding off UC San Diego to clinch the No. 3 seed in next week’s Big West Conference tournament.
Sakanoko added 10 kills and four assists and junior Keoni Thiim had 11 kills, seven digs and two aces for Hawaii (22-5, 5-4), which is guaranteed a spot in the nightcap of Thursday’s two first-round matches at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center against the loser of today’s match between UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Northridge.
“Through two sets we had made 16 errors, which is a pretty good number for us,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said. “In the third set, we made 17. Sixteen in two combined and 17 in the third. That’s just kind of where we’re at right now. It’s good news and bad news.”
The 13-point margin of loss in the third set was Hawaii’s most lopsided defeat in a set since losing 25-11 to UC Irvine in 2013.
Hawaii responded hitting .536 in the fourth set, with 17 of its 25 points coming on kills.
Sakanoko, who hit .350 for the match, put down a kill to set up match point and Todd finished it off to give Hawaii its 64th program win against UCSD, more than any other school it has played.
“It was so obvious what had happened. It was just all of our errors,” Wade said. “It all just kind of came in a rush like that. We certainly didn’t make a big deal about it or dwell on it.”
Anthony Cherfan had a match-high 16 kills to lead UC San Diego (11-14, 3-6), which is locked into the No. 4 seed vs. No. 5 seed match in the first round of the Big West tournament.
UCSD had a chance to sneak into the No. 3 seed with two wins against UH but was overwhelmed by Hawaii’s pressure from the service line through the first two sets.
The two teams were tied 10 times in the first set, with the last coming at 11-11 before UH pulled away.
Sakanoko had three of Hawaii’s five aces, with the second leading to the first media timeout with UH ahead 15-12.
UC San Diego hit .524 in the opening set but had nine service errors and five reception errors that helped give UH a 1-0 lead.
Sakanoko’s back-row kill on UH’s second set point ended the first set with 14 points determined on the serve.
“The three sets that we won, we made 21 errors. That’s seven a set. That’s a nice number,” Wade said. “The problem with giving a team one, where you make 17 errors in one set, is, I’ve said this, if you give them one, virtually everyone we play this time of year is good enough to win one on their own. And then you end up in the fifth and that’s just a coin flip.”
Hawaii’s advantage at the service line continued into the second set, which began with Thiim ripping an ace off a diving attempt by UCSD libero Evan Boyle.
Guilherme Voss’ first kill prompted a quick UCSD timeout down 5-1, but it didn’t do much to slow down UH, as Kurt Nusterer exited the timeout and ripped UH’s seventh ace for a five-point lead.
The Rainbow Warriors continued the onslaught hitting .405 in the second set. Nusterer ripped Hawaii’s ninth ace of the match — and 200th of the season — to give UH set point. The Tritons followed with their eighth hitting error in the match.
Hawaii had just one more kill than UCSD over the first two sets and was tied in blocks at four apiece, but held a 9-2 advantage in aces.
UC Irvine, which Hawaii split a two-match road series with last week, swept No. 1 Long Beach State on Friday. The two teams play again tonight, with the winner earning the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.
UH has already beaten the Anteaters twice this season but lost both matches at the Beach. With a win in the first round of the BWC tournament on Thursday, Hawaii will play the loser of tonight’s match in the nightcap on Friday with major at-large implications to the NCAA Championships.
“We need to be able to play more efficient,” Wade said. “All of these games for us are opportunities to continue to improve. You saw us jump out and the way we serve and we defended is really nice. That’s what this lineup can do. We need to just keep logging hours and try to extend the season as long as we can because if we can keep playing two or three weeks from now we’re going to be pretty good.”
