Warriors swept again by Cougars

Advertiser Staff

For the University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team, the second verse was the same as the first.

Another puzzling effort resulted in UH's second three-game loss in as many nights to host Brigham Young University. The scores were 30-27 30-24, 30-27 in the Smith Fieldhouse on BYU's Provo, Utah, campus.

"It was two evenings of fun for them," UH coach Mike Wilton said of the Cougars, "and a lot of pressure on us."

The outcome dropped the Warriors to 13-7 overall and 9-6 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. If the regular season were to end today, the Cougars, who have the same league record as the Warriors, would own the No. 4 seed based on the head-to-head tiebreaker. The Warriors would be No. 5. The top seed has an opening bye in the MPSF postseason tournament, and Nos. 2, 3 and 4 host first-round matches.

For the second night in a row, the Warriors squandered a lead — and control — in Game 1, then deteriorated after that because of passive serving and inconsistent passing.

During this six-game series, the Warriors did not have an ace in 155 serves. Perhaps fearful of Provo's thin air that lengthens the flight of the ball, the Warriors did not serve aggressively, allowing the Cougars an easy transition to their offense. With UH's serves leading to high passes, BYU setter Rob Neilson had success finding the attacker facing the solo block.

"Their setter did a nice job isolating his guys," Wilton said.

UH, in turn, struggled against BYU's six jump servers. That increased the pressure on UH's outside hitters.

Matt Bender, who is recovering from flu-like symptoms, hit .111 on Friday night and committed seven attack errors in 10 swings last night. He was blocked three times during BYU's 8-2 run to close Game 1.

"He had a weekend to forget," said Wilton, who blamed Bender's illness. "I don't know what else to attribute it to. I saw him make a lot of bad hitting choices. That's unlike him. He's been clutch for us all year. I'll chalk it up as an aberration."

UH was without middle blocker Mauli'a LaBarre, who was benched for missing a team meeting.

Asked if LaBarre would have made a difference, Wilton said, "We'll never know, will we?"

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