Volleyball: Azenha leads UH to sweep of Irvine

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

Pedro Azenha had a match-high 16 kills and hit for a .520 percentage in Hawai'i's three-game sweep of UC Irvine. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

The outcome moved the Warriors into a fourth-place tie with Cal State Northridge and Pepperdine in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. UH is 16-9 overall and 12-7 in the MPSF. The top four teams host opening-round matches in the MPSF playoffs. Irvine fell to 11-17 and 9-14.

There was media attention on UH outside hitter José José Delgado, whose girlfriend, All-America volleyball player Lily Kahumoku, was arrested yesterday morning on a complaint of abuse of a household member.

UH coach Mike Wilton said he looked into the matter and was assured Delgado was not at fault and he would not be distracted.

"He told me he was going to be good to go," Wilton said. "I was concerned about it, too. It's kind of a shocking deal."

Delgado, who did play in the third game, was not made available for comment before or after the match.

Co-captain Jake Muise said: "We're a family, and when things happen in the family, you take them as they roll. We have full support for José."

UH junior Pedro Azenha, a surprise starter at left-side hitter, hammered a match-high 16 kills and hit .520. Azenha had played better than Delano Thomas in practices this week, but his versatility — he can play on the left side and at opposite — made him more valuable as a reserve. But yesterday morning, Wilton changed his mind, deciding to go with Azenha.

"I thought about how his numbers were way better and how he stayed after practice to work on his passing," Wilton said. "That ate at me."

Azenha said: "We didn't know who was going to start. It was important to support everyone who played."

UC Irvine coach John Speraw also made a late lineup switch, benching All-America left-side hitter Jimmy Pelzel, who is fifth nationally in kills and averages nearly 10 swings per game. But the ironman has been rusty lately.

"Jimmy's been doing OK, if you're looking at the stats," Speraw said. "But we need him to do more for us. He's a senior and our team captain, and he hasn't served well and his hitting has been average and his blocking has been poor. I just decided to take a look and see what we look like without him on the court."

The makeover wasn't much better. The Anteaters committed errors on 24 attacks and 22 serves. Each game ended with a service error.

The Anteater serves that were in play were parlayed into bee-line passes to UH setter Kimo Tuyay. Tuyay also deciphered Irvine's defensive strategy of a middle blocker breaking early to double up on an outside hitter. When a middle blocker leaned toward UH's left, Tuyay would send the set to the right.

"Kimo was on the money," UH opposite hitter Matt Bender said.

The Warriors' float servers — Tuyay, outside hitter Ryan Woodward and middle blocker Mauli'a LaBarre — gave fits to the Irvine passers.

"I know we shanked a bunch of their jump serves, too," Speraw said, noting the Anteaters started four freshmen. "Our passing was not particularly sharp with the young guys we had out there."

Pelzel entered in the middle of Game 2, but could not provide a spark. His first three serves were errors.

The Anteaters' offensive problems were accentuated by the Warriors' improved block, which received a boost from LaBarre. UH middle blocker Dionisio Dante's second career start was abbreviated because of early difficulties reading the Anteaters' attack.

With UH leading 19-17 in Game 1, Wilton summoned LaBarre, who was not prepared. LaBarre tripped as he tried to remove his sweat pants, forcing Wilton to burn a timeout. LaBarre was worth the wait; he finished with five kills and six blocks.

"The only thing he needed to work on was taking off his sweats," Wilton said.

LaBarre said: "I thought if I was going to play, I would get a head's up, like, 'Get warm.' But it was, 'Mau, go in there.' I had my pants on. I had my jacket on. What was I going to do?"

Tonight's rematch is the Warriors' final regular-season home match. The Warriors will honor seniors Tuyay, Woodward, Muise, Joshua Stanhiser and Arri Jeschke.

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