No. 7 Northridge topples No. 2 Hawai'i
Advertiser Staff
Cal State Northridge's night to remember was the University of Hawai'i volleyball team's nightmare to forget.
Relying on dependable serving, the seventh-ranked Matadors upset the nation's No. 2 team, 30-26, 30-28, 22-30, 30-26, in Northridge, Calif.
The student section in the Matadome chanted "Oh-ver ray-ted ... Oh-ver ray-ted ..." as the Warriors, No. 1 a week ago, fell to third place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. UH is 11-4 overall and 8-3 in the MPSF.
This season, the Matadors (12-6, 7-5) have defeated No. 3 Brigham Young, No. 4 Long Beach State and No. 5 Pepperdine.
The evening began grimly for the Warriors when starting middle blocker Joshua Stanhiser forgot to bring his jersey to the Matadome. NCAA rules would have allowed Stanhiser to borrow reserve Dionisio Dante's uniform.
"I could have done that," UH coach Mike Wilton said, "but I chose not to. 'Bring your own stuff. Be a team guy.' "
Stanhiser's parents, who attended the match, drove to the hotel in Los Angeles to retrieve their son's jersey. They returned in the middle of Game 2.
Without Stanhiser, who entered No. 2 nationally in hitting accuracy, outside hitter Delano Thomas moved to the middle, where he was an All-American last year, and backup Matt Bender started on the left side. UH hit .200 in Game 1.
In Game 2, Dante started in the middle and Thomas moved back to the outside. Although Stanhiser entered late in the game, Wilton said, "We were better, but not good enough."
Only in Game 3 did the Warriors sustain scoring rallies.
But the Warriors struggled to pass jump serves by Dan Rhodes and Brian Waite and a dancing floater by setter Ty Tramblie.
"They played better than we did, to be truthful about it," Wilton said.
Nils Nielsen led the Matadors with 14 kills. Pedro Azenha had 19 kills and eight attack errors, both team and match highs.
"I think we need to get better at playing a little smarter," Wilton said. "But I believe it's fixable."
The rematch is tomorrow in the Matadome.
