UCLA gets payback with win over UH

Pretty in pink it was not.

No. 5 Hawaii, breaking out its new floral uniforms in honor of breast cancer awareness, instead had its collective heart broken, seeing a historic first slip away after 2 hours and 36 minutes.

The Rainbow Warriors, looking to top UCLA for an unprecedented sixth straight time, instead walked out of the Stan Sheriff Center after a 22-25, 25-22, 19-25, 25-18, 15-9 loss to the No. 1 Bruins. It was a missed opportunity to move into first place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Instead UCLA (11-1, 7-1) stays atop the standings, while the Warriors (9-2, 4-2) drop two games back in fifth.

“We’re still a work in progress,” said Hawaii coach Charlie Wade, holding at 100 career wins. “It was a battle between two good teams and they were better tonight.”

It took a career night from UCLA setter-hitter Micah Ma’a to make it happen. The Punahou product had a career-high 18 kills, hitting .500, and finished with 23 assists.

“I was disappointed in myself (Friday),” said Ma’a, whose dad, Pono, and mom, Lisa, played for Hawaii in the 1980s. “The only thing in my mind was to make my family proud. I was playing for them.

“Most of our guys had never played in an atmosphere like this and I told them they had to be prepared for the great crowd. This crowd can get to you.”

What got to the Warriors was the Bruin block. Hawaii, which outblocked UCLA 10.5-6 on Friday, was outblocked 19.5-4 Saturday, including no stuffs after Set 3. Junior middle Mitch Stahl was in on a match-high 11 blocks for UCLA.

“I think we didn’t make smart (hitting) choices after Set 3,” Wade said. But, if it comes down to it, we still have the tiebreaker over them (by virtue of set differential).”

Hawaii has little time to regroup before heading on the road Wednesday. The Warriors will play four matches in five days, beginning with Friday’s match at Stanford (8-2, 6-2).

Senior hitter Siki Zarkovic finished with a match-high 20 kills but hit a season-low .196. Freshman opposite Stijn van Tilburg, who had a career night Friday with 21 kills, finished with 17, hitting .171.

“For us, we didn’t pass well and it limited our options,” junior middle Iain McKellar said. “I’m happy considering most thought we’d get swept both nights.

“I think we’re confident going on the road, but it is a tough schedule.”

Hawaii only trailed once in Set 1, that on an opening ace by Stahl. The Warriors cleaned up what had been a horrendous night at the service line — 20 errors Friday — with two aces by McKellar giving them their largest lead at 15-9.

The Bruins wouldn’t go away, closing to within one three times, the last at 23-22, on a block of Zarkovic. Zarkovic came back with two consecutive kills, his ninth ending it.

Hawaii never led in Set 2, playing catchup the entire way. Junior middle Hendrik Mol’s kill tied it for the seventh and final time at 11, but the Warriors could never get over the hump.

Ma’a was untouchable, going a perfect 5-for-5 in Set 2 in helping the Bruins even the match. After being outblocked 10.5-6 on Friday, UCLA had 10 blocks through the first two sets, including a stuff of van Tilburg to end it.

The Warriors finally got a handle on Ma’a, with Nainoa Frank and Kupono Fey teaming to block him to tie at 12. Van Tilburg’s kill put Hawaii ahead for good at 13-12, extending the lead to 22-15 on three aces, one by van Tilburg and two by Fey.

The Warriors had set point at 24-16 but struggled to close, needing four chances to end it. It came via van Tilburg’s 11th kill.

The momentum traded sides with the teams in Set 4. At 13-13, UCLA used two 3-0 runs to take control at 19-14 and the Bruins blocked Zarkovic twice en route to evening the match.

The momentum stayed with UCLA as the Bruins jumped out to a 7-2 lead. The Warriors never quite recovered, closing to 8-6 but no closer in losing for the first time at home since last Feb. 6 to USC.

Note

Zarkovic is now tied for 14th on the all-time kill list with Steven Hunt at 1,076. Kanetake, who had 11 digs Saturday, passed Carlos Briceno for No. 8 on the career dig list and now has 653.

MPSF volleyball

Saturday

UCLA def. Hawaii 22-25, 25-22, 19-25, 25-18, 15-9

USC def. UC San Diego, 25-19, 26-24, 19-25, 25-22

Stanford def. CSUN 25-19, 25-21, 25-17

Long Beach State def. Pepperdine, 30-28, 25-23, 26-24

BYU def. UC Santa Barbara, 25-17, 25-23, 25-14

Cal Baptist def. Holy Names, 25-16, 26-18, 25-11

Cal Baptist def. Concordia, 25-20, 25-23, 25-22

Wednesday

Long Beach State at Cal Baptist

UC Irvine at UC Santa Barbara

Cal State Northridge at USC

Thursday

UC Irvine at UCLA

Friday

Hawaii at Stanford , 5 p.m., HST

Long Beach State at USC

UC San Diego at UC Santa Barbara

BYU at Princeton

No. 1 UCLA def. No. 5 Hawaii 22-25, 25-22, 19-25, 25-18, 15-9

Key — s: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct: hitting percentage; d: digs; bs: block solo; ba: block assists; pts: points (kills plus blocks plus aces).

Service Aces — UCLA 6 (Stahl 2, Arnitz, Bantle, Hatch, Ma‘a). Hawaii 7 (Fey 2, Franciskovic 2, McKellar 2, van Tilburg).Service errors — UCLA 21 (Arnitz 4, Ma‘a 4, Missry 3, Smith 3, Bantle 2, Martin 2, Stahl 2, Hatch). Hawaii 12 (Zarkovic 4, Mol 2, van Tilburg 2, Fey, Franciskovic, McKellar, Worsley). Assists — UCLA 56 (Smith 30, Ma‘a 23, Arnitz, Gillett, Hatch). Hawaii 48 (Franciskovic 42, Kanetake 3, Fey, van Tilburg, Zarkovic). T — 2:36. Officials — Ray Mink, Dixon Chun. A — 4,533.