HONOLULU -- It was a long night in Honolulu on Friday as the No. 4 BYU men’s volleyball team suffered a tough five-set loss to No. 8 Hawaii (30-17, 28-30, 31-33, 30-28, 15-10). The Cougars are now 9-5 overall and 7-4 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play.
Despite the loss, four Cougars recorded double-digit kills. Sophomore opposite Robb Stowell led the team with 18 kills, followed by Andrew Stewart with 15, Futi Tavana with 14 and Russell Lavaja with 10. Stewart also led BYU with 13 digs, marking his sixth double-double of the season.
Lavaja started things off for the Cougars with two quick kills in the first set. The teams took turns holding the lead throughout the first half, but the Warriors capitalized on several BYU errors to go up 15-12. Despite kills from Tavana and Kevin Sagers, the momentum continued in UH’s favor, forcing the Cougars to call a timeout. The Warriors recorded a 10-0 run late in the set on way to a 30-17 win.
It was a pivotal second set as BYU was able to establish a middle presence early. Both middle blockers, Tavana and Lavaja, recorded kills, followed by back-and-forth scoring with 11 ties before either team reached 15 points. Another kill by Tavana put the Cougars up 16-14, while a pair of UH errors gave BYU a three-point lead, its largest up until that point in the match.
Kent Tuttle was a major contributor for the Cougars, connecting on three consecutive kills, but it was a strong attack down the line by Jeff Robinson that gave BYU a 24-19 advantage. Joshua Walker’s three kills helped get the Warriors back to within one point. Tied at 26-26, Stewart recorded back-to-back kills, turning the lead back over to the Cougars for good. A block by Stewart and Tavana won the set 30-28 and tied the match.
BYU jumped out to an early 5-2 lead in the third set, but UH knotted the score after a three-point run. Neither team put together more than two consecutive points until the Cougars went 3-0 to go up 21-19. Stowell and Robinson contributed kills, but the Warriors managed to put together a 4-1 run to take a 25-24 advantage.
Stewart and Stowell came up with big kills down the stretch, while Tavana and Yamil Perez combined for a block to put BYU up 28-27. UH took a 30-29 lead after an untimely Cougar service error, but Stowell and Sagers each knocked down kills, bringing up set point. BYU’s initial plans were spoiled after a long rally went the Warriors’ way. Not discouraged, Stowell and Stewart hit back-to-back kills for the 33-31 victory.
In the fourth set UH pulled ahead 13-10 before three straight Cougar points. Stewart knocked down his 13th kill of the night, followed by a UH service error and BYU triple block. The Warriors created some momentum midway through the set, leading by as many as five points. Trailing 26-22, Stowell recorded a kill followed by a block with Lavaja.
UH was called for hitting the antenna and soon suffered a costly service error, giving the Cougars a chance to come back and tie the score 28-28 on the following play. The BYU front line put up a three-man block, but this time it was the Warriors’ turn to claim a close 30-28 win.
UH capitalized on BYU errors, scoring its first four points of the fifth set off the miscues. While the Cougars managed to come back and tie the score 5-5, the Warriors scored four of the next five points as BYU called a timeout. A call against the Cougars sparked a fire for BYU as Sagers knocked down two kills, but UH didn’t let their lead slip much further, claiming the set 15-10.
The Cougars and Warriors fly to Maui on Saturday for the second match in this weekend series. The teams will face off at War Memorial Gym in Wailuku at 5 p.m. HT.
Volleyball Box Score
The Automated ScoreBook
#4 BYU vs #8 Hawai'i (Feb 26, 2010 at Honolulu, HI)
BYU | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN
## Name SP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
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3 CHILTON, Reed....... 3| 0 1 1-1.000| 14| 0 0| 0| 1| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0
5 LAVAJA, Russell..... 5| 10 6 18 .222| 2| 0 6| 1| 0| 0 4 1| 0| 12.0
11 SAGERS, Kevin....... 4| 6 4 10 .200| 0| 0 2| 1| 2| 0 1 0| 0| 6.5
13 STOWELL, Robb....... 4| 18 8 44 .227| 0| 0 3| 0| 5| 0 4 0| 0| 20.0
15 STEWART, Andrew..... 5| 15 5 32 .312| 1| 0 2| 0| 13| 0 4 0| 0| 17.0
17 TAVANA, Futi........ 5| 14 1 21 .619| 1| 0 2| 1| 2| 0 6 0| 0| 17.0
1 TUTTLE, Kent........ 4| 7 3 14 .286| 0| 0 0| 0| 2| 0 0 0| 0| 7.0
4 SILVA, Joel......... 5| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 10| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0
7 ROBINSON, Jeff...... 5| 5 3 18 .111| 0| 0 2| 1| 6| 0 2 0| 0| 6.0
8 KAULIAKAMOA, Joe.... 2| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 1| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0
9 SOUZA, Otavio....... 1| 0 1 1-1.000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0
10 TAYLOR, Mat......... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0
14 PEREZ, Yamil........ 4| 1 0 1 1.000| 58| 0 2| 0| 10| 0 2 1| 0| 2.0
18 HIAPO, BJ........... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 1| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0
TEAM................ | | | | 2| | | | 0.0
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Totals.............. 5| 76 32 160 .275| 76| 0 21| 6| 51| 0 23 2| 0| 87.5
TEAM ATTACK PER SET TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 11.5
Set K E TA Pct Sideout Pct
1 12 9 28 .107 13-30 43% SET SCORES 1 2 3 4 5 TEAM RECORDS
2 17 4 34 .382 21-28 75% BYU................. (2) 17 30 33 28 10 9-5, 7-4 MPSF
3 23 9 49 .286 24-32 75% Hawai'i............. (3) 30 28 31 30 15 9-5, 5-4 MPSF
4 18 4 30 .467 20-29 68%
5 6 6 19 .000 6-14 42%
Hawai'i | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN
## Name SP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
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1 Rawson, Matt........ 5| 10 3 24 .292| 0| 1 1| 0| 0| 2 7 1| 0| 16.5
5 Hunt, Steven........ 5| 19 6 36 .361| 0| 0 2| 0| 3| 1 1 0| 0| 20.5
7 Walker, Joshua...... 5| 19 9 50 .200| 0| 0 5| 0| 8| 1 3 1| 0| 21.5
10 Umlauft, Jonas...... 5| 19 6 43 .302| 0| 1 2| 0| 3| 1 4 0| 0| 23.0
15 Zemljak, Nejc....... 5| 0 1 1-1.000| 62| 4 3| 0| 5| 1 4 0| 0| 7.0
20 Dyer, Brennon....... 4| 3 1 6 .333| 1| 0 2| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0| 3.0
2 Grgas, Steven....... 4| 4 0 11 .364| 1| 0 0| 0| 1| 1 3 0| 0| 6.5
8 Tuaniga, Gus........ 4| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 1| 0| 2| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0
9 Cervantes, Ric...... 5| 0 0 0 .000| 2| 0 0| 0| 11| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0
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Totals.............. 5| 74 26 171 .281| 66| 6 16| 0| 33| 7 22 2| 0| 98.0
TEAM ATTACK PER SET TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 18.0
Set K E TA Pct Sideout Pct
1 13 3 25 .400 13-17 76% Site: Honolulu, HI (Stan Sheriff Center)
2 20 6 46 .304 21-30 69% Date: Feb 26, 2010 Attend: 3631 Time: 3:06
3 14 6 42 .190 23-32 71% Referees: Wayne Lee, Dan Hironaka
4 20 7 36 .361 21-29 72%
5 7 4 22 .136 7-11 63%
1 2 3 4 5 Total
Tie scores 10 12 25 8 4 59
Lead changes 4 3 8 1 1 17