UH stops 49ers in 5

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i's, from left, Delano Thomas, Alfred Reft, Dionisio Dante and Kimo Tuyay all contributed in a 25-30, 30-25, 29-31, 30-28, 15-13 win over Long Beach State. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

A synergistic crowd that was louder than its turnstile sum of 3,605 saw the Warriors prevail, 25-30, 30-25, 29-31, 30-28, 15-13.

"I'm happy for these guys," UH coach Mike Wilton said, pointing to his players. "They all supported and pulled for each other. Everyone contributed to making this happen. It was like a patch-work quilt out there. Everyone added their square."

In particular, roll the credits for:

• Opposite hitter Matt Bender, who hammered a match-high 27 kills.
• Dionisio Dante, who replaced middle blocker Mauli'a LaBarre at the start of Game 2. Dante confused the 49ers with his serves off a twisting jump motion (he had two aces). He also added seven block assists. "That works," Wilton said, scanning the final statistics.
• Pedro Azenha, a natural opposite hitter who started the final two games at the outside hitter/passer position.
• Left-side hitter Delano Thomas, whose blistering serves forced the 49er passers to their heels. Thomas also powered 20 kills.

"Everyone came through," UH setter Kimo Tuyay said. "We have so many guys who want to be on the court at the same time. That's not possible. But they made sure they contributed when they were out there. That helps a lot. We just came together."

The Warriors appeared to be in trouble early when LaBarre repeatedly winced because of a sprained left ankle. "You could see he was struggling," Wilton said. "He didn't look like he had any bounce in his jump and he was late (on block attempts). We decided to give Dio a look."

In Game 1, Bender felt another kind of pain, the sort inflicted by a minus-.222 hitting percentage (two kills and four errors in nine swings).

"The first game, I wasn't dialed in to where Kimo was setting me," Bender said. "Kimo's sets are always the same. I had to get in there and get the ball high instead of catching it low, where I was having problems. The second I started doing that, things started happening."

Bender was nearly unstoppable after that. He had 25 kills and only two errors in the final four games.

Azenha, who is battling to regain the starting job he lost after a two-match suspension last month, provided a boost as an outside hitter. Azenha was a serving specialist for the first three games, and he started the fourth, at the second outside position. That meant UH had only one primary passer — libero Alfred Reft. But the Warriors were willing to sacrifice steady defense for Azenha's powerful right arm.

"I felt we were hitting stretches where the ball only could go to Delano," Wilton said. "I wanted to get another gun on the court."

But Azenha had prepared for the possibility of being a primary passer. In this week's practices, he portrayed Long Beach State outside hitter Jeff Wootton.

"I was kind of nervous, because it's been a while," Azenha said. "I've done it before, and I know I can do it. I think I was decent."

Azenha had seven kills and three aces. At the end of the fourth and fifth games, he was replaced by libero Jake Muise.

UH trailed by two points three times in the final game, but the score was tied at 12-all when Bender ricocheted a shot off a double block, and Joshua Stanhiser, Ryan Woodward and Tuyay teamed to block Scott Touzinsky's attack.

The 49ers closed to 14-13, but Wootton served long at match point, triggering a wild celebration.

"It was unfortunate we didn't win, but part of it was Hawai'i played well," 49ers coach Alan Knipe said. "It was a good Game 5. It bounced back and forth, but unfortunately it's a short game, and they were up at the time it ended."

Wootton finished with 21 kills for the 49ers and middle blocker David Lee contributed 19 kills and five block assists.

The Warriors improved to 15-8 overall and 11-6 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. They have clinched a berth in the MPSF's eight-team playoffs.

The 49ers fell to 21-5 and 14-3.

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8051.