Volleyball out of Hawaii starting at a decent hour on the mainland. What a concept.
This was the final match in Hawaii’s annual home invitational. The tournament does have a corporately-sponsored name, but for some reason I’m feeling staunchly anti-corporate at the moment and don’t feel like calling it by that name. After getting blown out of the gym in a two-match series with BYU a week ago, Hawaii have improved playing on home soil, losing two five-set heartbreakers to Penn State and Ohio State to open up the tournament.
In fact, the first four matches of the tournament all went a full five sets. In further fact, the first 19 sets of the tournament were all won by teams ending on a certain side of the court. In still further fact, every match UCLA have played this year has gone five sets (they enter carrying one loss to go with five wins). While Penn State finished off Ohio State in three quick sets earlier today, making the start time for this match somewhat sane, there was still every reason to believe we could be in for a marathon this evening.
This match did pit two MPSF teams against each other, but it wasn’t counted as an MPSF conference match. Everyone sort of squinted in confusion when this happened earlier in the year (well, last year, strictly speaking) in men’s basketball, when Butler met Xavier for a non-conference match despite both being members of the Atlantic 10. But in men’s volleyball, with the relative dearth of programs, this is reasonably common.
So in addition to UCLA’s opportunity to win the tournament outright (with a loss, they’d split it with Penn State), it was an opportunity for Hawaii the right the ship, and get off a four-match losing streak that has started their season. I don’t expect they’ll make the MPSF tournament at season’s end, but if they have any designs on proving me wrong, they best get themselves in gear soon.
This was my first look at the Bruins this year. Take one look at their roster and you can take a guess who their biggest scoring threat is. It’s the 7-footer Robart Page, the only such player in college volleyball. The Bruins also have a very strong passing libero in Evan Mottram, one of the few returners from their 2012 team who saw significant playing time. Their most consistent scorer is Argentine import Gonzalo Quiroga, one of the heaviest hitters and best servers in the MPSF.
Hawaii’s Davis Holt continued to wear jersey number 24, despite being listed under 18 on Hawaii’s website. The reason? The company supplying Hawaii with their jerseys simply didn’t make an 18 this year, at least not in time for the first shipment. He’ll wear the number later in the season, once Hawaii receive it, possibly as soon as Hawaii’s next match. For this match, Hawaii experienced a change at setter, as Joby Ramos was in for setter Max Wechsung, the latter battling a shoulder injury. The difference between the two is likely stark in terms of blocking rotations, as Wechsung stands 6’6″, pretty average for men’s volleyball, and Ramos a comparatively tiny 6 feet even.
And Ramos netted his first serve, showing nerves, perhaps. Page ran the Bruins out to 3-0 with a service ace that the Warriors sort of abandoned. An errant left-side hit by Dane Worley sailed long without being touched on the rally ending 5-4, meaning it was largely even to start set 1. At 6-5, Hawaii showed some great team play with JP Marks providing a great up and Sinisa Zarkovic providing a set from center-back to left-front for Jace Olsen that was right on target to tie the match at 6. On the rally ending 8-8, the comparatively-diminutive Ramos tried for a dink against the towering UCLA front line. Curious choice to say the least. But Hawaii eventually won the point. Ties occurred at 9 and 10 as well before Quiroga ate up an overpass to give the Bruins a 12-10 lead, causing Hawaii to call time.
Hawaii evened the match at 12 coming out of the timeout. On the rally ending 12-12, UCLA setter Steve O’Dell went to him twice in a row with these really slow, airball serves. The first was blocked back and kept alive, the second blocked for a point. The Warriors then edged ahead at 13-12 before Olsen’s service error tied the set again. There was a timeout on the floor with UCLA ahead 15-13, after an awkward play where the Hawaii offense just broke down. Zarkovic found a triple block waiting for him on the first point after the timeout, to put UCLA up 16-13, but Hawaii ran it back again to tied at 16, on an ace off the hand of Brook Sedore. There were ties again at 17 and 18 before UCLA edged back ahead again at 20-18 at Hawaii’s second timeout.
The giant Page asserted himself once more coming out of the timeout, to put the Bruins up 21-18, as they inched toward the victory. Zarkovic tried for a misdirecting sneaky little left-hand tip on the next rally, but it landed just wide. O’Dell, who had a beastly first set serving, got UCLA to set point with two straight aces to cap off a 7-0 run. The arena became noticeably darker on the rally beginning 24-18. I thought at first it was something up with the webcast, but the commentator mentioned it too, and apparently the UCLA bench said something about it, too. Hawaii saved the first set point with a kill and then Zarkovic made it two in a row to make it 24-20 and UCLA’s timeout. Worley ended proceedings in set 1 with a kill from the right side after the timeout.
UCLA edged ahead early in set 2, with an ace off the hand of Quiroga making it 5-2. The linesman called the ball out, but the up referee called it in. The up ref’s word is golden, so it counted. He netted the next serve, but it somehow managed to crawl over the top of the net anyway and land in for a let ace. Hawaii called time trailing 6-2. Zarkovic sided the Warriors out after the timeout, following the cardinal rule of timeouts in volleyball. The rally ending 7-3 showed some great reflexes from Hawaii. Nick West got a nice up to Ramos, who had only a split second to react and sent the ball over. It landed just inches out of bounds, giving UCLA the point. The fairly diminutive Worley (6’2″) scored a solo block of Marks to put the Bruins up 8-3, a big early advantage. The five-point different held up for a while.
On Olsen’s serve, Hawaii stormed back from having been down 14-8. Olsen’s serving was very strong, leaving the Bruins out of system on their first balls. Matthew Cheape played quite well in this run, too, flopping around all over the place to keep ball after ball alive. I feel like I should have a pun in hand, but I don’t. (I’m too cheap?) UCLA took a timeout at 14-10, but it did not staunch the run. The Warriors ran the set all the way back to even at 14 before Quiroga finally sided the Bruins out to get to the 15-14 automatic timeout.
O’Dell got the Bruins out back in front with a kill back from the timeout. Quiroga showed some versatility at the serving line, with a soft serve first that aced the Hawaii libero Cheape, putting the Bruins back up 17-14, and he followed it up with a bomb to the back row. Hawaii managed to side out on that serve, getting him off serve. From that 17-15 count, the score stayed very even at a consistent 2-point deficit. Olsen rotated to the service line at 22-21 UCLA, but he was unable to rattle off a run this time, the Bruins siding out again to go up 23-21. The Warriors called time again there, and Holt got Hawaii the crucially-needed point on serve from the left side to knot the match at 23. That prompted UCLA’s timeout.
Coming back from the timeout, Worley gave Hawaii set point with a long hit, getting the crowd into it. Holt led a left-side double block on the giant Page to give Hawaii a remarkable come-from-behind second set win.
Hawaii started off the set in a different rotation than in the first two sets. Marks was their first server in each of the first two sets, but in set 3 it was Ramos. The set started off evenly. Strange point on the serve beginning 3-3, as the ball was whistled dead the moment it was served. Foot faults are a thing that happen, but they always make you say “huh?” for a moment when they do. Hawaii took the first two-point advantage at 7-5 following a couple of miscues from Quiroga, a net violation and a hitting error. Holt’s kill on the rally ending 8-6 was his 7th on 7 swings — something in the water tonight? The Warriors went ahead three at 10-7 with a left-side error by the Bruins. UCLA ran back to 10-10, ending on an ace where Marks jumped into the crowd going after a ball. Luckily, the man he landed on seemed more amused than anything. You can’t really imagine the coach was, though.
Further ties occurred at 11, 12, 13, and 14, before the automatic timeout came with Hawaii tenuously ahead 15-14. UCLA took a couple of points on Quiroga’s serve to edge ahead 17-16 (previously Hawaii had been the side to serve with the advantage) at Hawaii’s timeout. Quiroga’s serving is strong and unpredictable, as he has several different serves to which he can turn. The serve on the rally ending 17-16 got Hawaii well out of system, as the set had to come from Holt of all people, and Olsen ended up being blocked.
The run extended out of the timeout with a right-side block and another difficult serve. It was clearly going long, but Marks couldn’t get out of the way in time, the ball landing for an ace. The Warriors were at last able to side out trailing 19-17. And all of a sudden, the breaks just started going the Bruins’ way. After a timeout, Hawaii tried something new, bringing in Ryan Leung at outside hitter. His first swing was blocked, putting the Bruins up 22-18. Marks came back in for Leung when his serving rotation came up and promptly served the ball long. The Bruins brought in a serving sub for their set point, Michael Beals. He let loose a nice one, leading to a right-side double block that gave the Bruins the third-set win.
UCLA ran out to a quick 3-0 lead to start the 4th, including Worley’s second service ace of the night (the team’s jaw-dropping 12th). The Warriors closed to 4-3 behind an ace of their own from Olsen, giving them six themselves. The UCLA libero Mottram got away with a double on the rally ending 5-3 as he hit the ball twice in sequence keeping if off the net. UCLA rotated Quiroga to the service line at 6-4. Hawaii lined up in an interesting formation with four players in passing positions. It worked, as they sided out to get Quiroga off serve. The two-point margin between the two held steady until UCLA edged ahead with a right-side block to go up 9-6. They held a marked advantage in blocking, as this was their 11th of the match.
The rally ending 11-8 was one of the longest of the match, with really good defense on both sides. Page, who hardly even needed to jump, ended it leading a triple block. From 13-10, Hawaii showed their resiliency in rallying back to tie the set at 13 before Marks’ service error made it 14-13. The Bruins inched ahead at the automatic timeout, 15-14.
Really bad play for Hawaii on the rally ending 17-16. Bad service reception gave UCLA a free ball. Zarkovic successfully ran down UCLA’s swing, passing the ball over his head as he momentarily ran off the court. He turned back just in time to see the ball fall to the ground, despite four teammates being within arms’ reach of it. He was visibly displeased with the outcome, and I don’t blame him. Hawaii called time here, trailing by a point. They came out well, tying the set again at 18. Beals re-entered as a serving specialist again at 19-18, but this time the Warriors sided out on his serve, tying the set again at 19. Olsen, who had a difficult match all told, picked up an emphatic ace ahead of UCLA’s timeout at 20-19 Hawaii.
Big miscue for Hawaii after the timeout, as Zarkovic had a very easy overpass to gobble up, but he hit it long. Marks’ 17th kill of the match to lead all scorers kept Hawaii in the slightest of advantages. At 21-21, Quiroga rotated back to serve, but Hawaii’s reception was as clean as it has been on his serve all night. A hitting error by the middle blocker sided Hawaii out. Ties occurred again at 22 and 23 ahead of Hawaii’s set point at 24-23 and UCLA’s last timeout. Worley staved it off from the right side, for the 11th tie of the set. Taylor Averill led a double block to give Hawaii their second set point. Quiroga’s hitting error sent this match to the decider — remarkably, the seventh time in seven matches this season for the Bruins that they’ve gone the full five.
Hawaii netted on the first ball of the decider, and then Olsen just whiffed on service reception on the next ball. Just slipped off his hands and rebounded away. Honestly it’s probably a small wonder that doesn’t happen more often than it does. Hawaii rattled off two in a row to follow, and the set ran even (again). At 3-3, Holt’s jump serve ran well long, and that rotated Quiroga back to serve for the Bruins once again. His jump-float landed in front of the Hawaii passer for his fifth ace of the night, but his harder serve on the next ball went long, leaving UCLA ahead 5-4. At 6-4, Beals again entered the match as a serving specialist, but he badly shanked the ball, it landing well wide. On Hawaii’s serve at 6-5, Zarkovic served a beauty that the linesman called out, but the up referee overruled him for the second time, giving Zarkovic the ace. Averill’s kill from the middle made it 7-6 Hawaii at UCLA’s timeout.
UCLA scored a controversial point on the rally ending 7-7, as the ball was called out on a block attempt by Ramos (against Page…stop a moment and appreciate that – a six-footer blocking a seven-footer). Hawaii’s coach was desperate for the up referee to again overrule the linesman, but had no such luck. Quiroga got the Bruins to the side change leading 8-7, and UCLA added another point to their advantage ahead of Hawaii’s timeout at 9-7. Just subbed into the match, Sedore hit the ball long to make it 10-7 Bruins as the Stan Sheriff Center grew quiet. Page traded an error and a kill on the next two balls, giving him 18 kills to lead all scorers. The Bruins were surely content to play sideout volleyball, but Ramos came up with a very very timely ace, the 9th of the night for Hawaii (to 14 for UCLA) to close the Warriors back within a point at 11-10. Two points from Quiroga brought the set to 13-10, and there was a certain awkward silence as Olsen was yellow-carded for making a rude (not obscene, but definitely rude) gesture toward the up referee as he argued a call.
The first serve back from the timeout for UCLA flew long, closing Hawaii back to 13-11. Olsen uncorked a strong serve, but UCLA’s service reception was sterling, leading to a left-side kill for Quiroga and setting up match point. Zarkovic saved the first with his own left-side kill, his 16th of the match. Hawaii brought in a serving sub at 14-12, Johan Timmer. UCLA were able to set their offense, but their hitting attempt went long. With just one more match point in hand, UCLA’s coach called time.
14-13 was an ugly rally!
Both sides badly out of system. Quiroga got three bites at the apple for UCLA, but couldn’t put it away. Zarkovic evened the match at 14 with a left-side kill, and then Quiroga’s error on 14-14 made it Aloha Ball in the Stan Sheriff Center. Quiroga’s second straight error, capping off a 5-0 run for the Warriors, gave Hawaii their first win of the year.
Hawaii d. #5 UCLA (20-25, 25-23, 20-25, 26-24, 16-14)
You’ve got to be happy for Hawaii. They’ve been battling quite a bit this season, and it’s very nice to see them get their first win of 2013. One must keep in mind that this was a non-conference match and the third straight day of play for both teams, and in fact the third straight 5-set match in as many days for both teams. So this doesn’t mean Hawaii aren’t still going to be MPSF doormats — there’s every reason to believe they will be. But even a doormat will win a match here and there. And how about Johann Timmer, coming in cold to a 5th set decider down 14-12 as a serving sub — and serving out the match!
This may have started at a decent hour, but after five grueling sets it’s now after midnight! Lucky I don’t have to work in the morning 😛
Hawaii next head to the mainland for two matches with Long Beach State. Interestingly, UCLA’s next match is also against Long Beach State, Tuesday night ahead of the 49ers playing host to Hawaii over the weekend. UCLA also play Santa Barbara next week.
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