UH tops USC in 4
Advertiser Staff
Spurred by the powerful right arms of Delano Thomas and Pedro Azenha, the University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team surged to a 30-28, 28-30, 30-20, 30-19 victory over Southern California last night in Los Angeles.
In ending a three-match losing streak, the Warriors improved to 12-5 overall, 9-4 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and 1-2 on a road trip that ends with tonight's rematch in USC's North Gym. The Trojans fell to 6-13 and 4-8.
The Trojans appeared to be poised for an upset by combining their tough serves with the Warriors' self-inflicted woes in the first two games.
"I think we had two opponents, and the first one was on our side of the net," UH coach Mike Wilton said. "We got that one figured out early in Game 3."
In the first two games, the Warriors had difficulty passing, serving into fair territory and, sometimes, just hitting. Two times they whiffed on quick sets.
"We did a lot of things that eroded trust," said Wilton, who repeatedly reminded his players that USC swept Cal State Northridge in three games. Northridge beat UH twice last week.
"We started playing some good steady ball in Games 3 and 4," Wilton said. "We looked more like ourselves."
The Warriors heated up their serves in the final two games — and the Trojans could not respond. Thomas and Azenha combined for eight of the Warriors' 10 aces.
"I thought it was just a battle of serves," USC coach Turhan Douglas said. "They served much tougher as the match went on, and we let up. We didn't pass as well. When we're out of system, we don't have any big-time hitter to put the ball away. We survive off serving and passing, and they out-served us."
Azenha, who was nearly pulled in the first two games, finished with a match-high 22 kills. He hit .471. In Game 3, the Warriors committed one attack error in 21 swings and hit an astonishing .714.
While Azenha was good, Thomas had a greater impact. When asked about UH's resurgence, USC's Douglas said, "Delano Thomas is what happened."
Thomas buried 18 kills, but more importantly, he forced the Trojans to change strategies. Off a vertical jump, the 6-foot-7 Thomas can touch 12 feet.
"There's nothing you can do when Delano Thomas is hitting over the block," Douglas said. "Basically, we have to set up our defense to dig him. When he's hitting at his peak, which he did tonight, he's hard to stop."
Wilton said: "Delano had a big match. But everybody played well once we got through the first two games. We had some demons to conquer on our side of the net."
The Warriors hit .560 in the final two games. UH outside hitter José José Delgado contributed 13 kills and nine digs, and middle blocker Mauli'a LaBarre assisted on six of the Warriors' 10.5 blocks.
USC's Joao Grangeiro had 11 kills.
