Jan. 30, 2010

Final Stats

Honolulu, Hawaii --  No. 9 Hawaii held off  No. 7 UC Irvine, 3-2 (30-28, 30-20, 27-30, 26-30, 20-18) in a three hour and 17 minute match at the Stan Sheriff Center Friday.

After losing the first two sets, UCI rallied to claim the next two and had match-point four times in the fifth game, but Hawaii battled back to win the final set, 20-18.

The Anteaters (5-5, 1-4) were led opposite Carson Clark with a career-high 29 kills. Outside hitter Jordan DuFault had a double-double with 19 kills and a team-and season-high 12 digs. Setter Anthony Spittle recorded 58 set assists and a career-high 11 digs. Bryan Simmons and Cory Yoder came off the bench to record six kills apiece with Simmons leading all players with seven block assists. The Anteaters had seven service aces by seven different players and out-blocked the Warriors, 18.5-13.5.

Hawaii's Jonas Umlauft posted a career-high 37 kills to lead all players. He also recorded seven digs and five blocks. Josh Walker totaled 22 kills and eight digs. Matt Rawson tallied 12 kills and a team-best eight blocks. Nejc Zemljak recorded 66 set assists, while libero Ric Cervantes had a match-high 13 digs. Hawaii improves to 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the MPSF.

Hawaii led 9-7 in the first set before UCI rattled off five consecutive points to take the 12-9 advantage. The Warriors rallied to knot the score at 15-15, but UCI would score the next three on a UH service error, a service ace by Kevin Wynne and a Carson Clark kill to regain the 18-15 lead. Hawaii would out-score the Anteaters, 5-1 to go back up on top 20-19. After a UCI timeout, Clark would put down a kill to stop the Hawaii momentum. The teams were tied at 21-21 before Hawaii used back-to-back kills by Steven Hunt and Jonas Umlauft to take the 23-21 cushion. A block by Connor Hughes and Austin D'Amore was followed by a kill by Jordan DuFault knotted the score at 27-27. The teams would trade points until Hawaii blocked a ball and then watched UCI hit the ball wide to give the Warriors the set, 30-28. The match was tied 13 times, but UCI could not take advantage of seven UH service errors. Umlauft had nine kills to lead Hawaii.

In the second set, Hawaii opened a 9-5 lead and never looked back as they won the set, 30-20.

UH jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the third set, but a kill by Bryan Simmons and a Warrior attack error tied the game at 13-13. UCI led 19-16, but the Warriors would score three straight, which included two Anteater attack errors, to catch UCI at 19 all. UCI would take a 26-24 lead on a kill by Clark and a setting error by Hawaii. UH closed to 27-26 but a solo block by Connor Hughes gave UCI the 28-26 lead. A DuFault kill would give UCI the 30-27 victory.

Cory Yoder stepped into the outside hitter position in the fourth set and recorded two kills to help the Anteaters to a 5-1 start. UCI led from start to finish as the Anteaters went on to the 30-26 victory and forced a fifth set. Yoder hit .628, adding six kills and two blocks to spark UCI.

UCI had a quick 4-1 lead but Hawaii would out-score the Anteaters 4-1 to even the score at 5-5. Hawaii would take its first lead of the game at 7-6 on a UCI service error and an Umlauft kill on an Anteater overpass.  Another kill by Umlauft and one by Joshua Walker gave Hawaii the 11-10 advantage. The teams traded points until Hawaii used a kill by Umlauft and a block by Rawson and Walker to win the match, 20-18.

The teams will meet again tomorrow beginning at 9:00 p.ml PST.