Hawai`i sweeps Northridge

[kolohekeiki]

The Warrirors swept Northridge 30-23, 31-29, 30-19 in front of 2,000 fans at the Stan Sheriff Center.

I only watched parts of the match switching back and forth from American Idol, but from what I saw Northridge played a really bad match and the Warriors played a decent match.

As everyone mentioned, once Delano Thomas returns to the line-up, I think the Warriors will be really deadly.

But Northridge didn't play like the sixth ranked team that they are.

Towards the end of the match the Warriors played some good defense digging up some of Northridge's big hits. Alfred Reft, Jose Delgado and even Dio Dante and some big digs at the end.

Hopefully a better Northridge team shows up on Friday. I really didn't expect the Warriors to sweep Northridge. I expected a much tougher match.

[Rocky]

HONOLULU - The fourth-ranked University of Hawai`i swept No. 6 Cal State Northridge tonight to open the Warriors' Mountain Pacific Sports Federation conference play at the Stan Sheriff Center in front of 2,251 (3,721 tickets issued).

UH took advantage of eight Matador service errors in Game One to win, 30-23, despite hitting only .259 in the set.
The offense picked up on both sides of the net in Game Two. UH posted a hitting percentage of .419, while CSUN hit at a .410 clip.

The Warriors took a 2-0 lead heading to the locker rooms, winning Game Two 31-29. In the game, the lead seesawed with eight lead changes. Bender led the way in the second game with seven kills and an ace. The Matadors continued to shoot themselves in the foot with another eight service errors.

Hawai`i came out scorching in Game Three taking leads of 7-1, 11-3, and 18-8 before cruising to a 30-19 win to close out the match. UH held CSUN to a negative (-.143) hitting percentage in the final game.

Bender and Azenha led UH with 13 kills, while Delgado slammed nine and La Barre added six. UH ended the match with a .278 hitting percentage.

Collectively, CSUN had 21 service errors and hit .200 as a team. Leading them offensively was Matt Belanted, who posted seven kills while hitting .626. CSUN top kill leaders were Brian Waite and Dan Rhodes with 10 each.

The Warriors improved to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the MPSF, while the Matadors evened their record at 3-3 and 1-2 MPSF.

The two teams complete the two-game series Friday night at the SSC with a 7 p.m. first serve.

[Rocky]

You cannot win a match with 21 service errors!

Let's hope Friday night is a better match!

[me]

Now if only Thomas can be put back into the starting lineup for matches, him and La Barre is going to be a nice combo.

Does anyone know when the two transfers from Lewis is going to be on the team and playing, muchless added to the current roster too? Or was there a change of plans?

[roy]

Not the greatest match but there are definately some potentials for both teams. Northridge looked a bit out of sorts. 21 serve errors in 3 games is not going to win you a match. I can understand the mentality behind it. I think it was Waite who had a mean jumper. But he didn't keep it in. He gave Hawaii some problems, but after he got a bit of momentum on his side, he served out or into the net. Northridge is definately bothered by injuries. Hanson didn't play much and didn't make a huge difference. And at some points they kept feeding Rhodes. He packs a punch but looked like he wasn't 100%. It's a bit scary to think what this team might be capable of.

Hawaii looked alright. The passing was decent, but I want Beckwith to get Dante and La Barre more involved. They only had 14 swings combine. That doesn't even equal one of Hawaii's outsides. Delgado struggled again, but he did a lot of Hawaii defensively and from the back row. A couple of positives for Hawaii. The service errors went down dramatically. Hawaii did a good job of pressuring Northridge without making a lot of errors. Hawaii also improved their blocking, but some of that might be attributed to injuried hitters from Northridge. The rematch should be fun.

If Northridge can keep with Hawaii and minimize their service errors, they can hang with Hawaii on Friday. They were with Hawaii in game 2 and could have taken it but a service error cost them the game. Hawaii needs to clean up its passing and feed the middles. If they can do what they did on Wednesday, they will be fine.

[Bookumdanoaloha]

Playing in large arena for a young team like the Matadors (even if only a little over 2000 fans) is always an adjustment. On the other hand, Hawaii is a large arena team and normally has some problems playing in smaller arenas (eg. Smith Fieldhouse, Provo; Crawford Hall UCI and the Pepperdine Field House. I remember last season's playoff game, Al Scates cut Pauley in Half to give the atmosphere of a smaller gym atmosphere. It worked. Plus the Bruins were serving Delano Thomas all nite.

Again, Hawaii will only go as far as their passing will take them. Serve/receive is also a big concern. If Northridge were able to get in only half of their jump serves in, the game would have been alot closer. Delgado is too shaky, I can see Hakala coming in for Jose.

Coach Campbell is a very good coach. He'll make adjustments. Watch out Nils Nelisen to have a big game.

Bookumdanoaloha

[swingaway]

Roy and Bookum are both right on. Service errors and injuries topped off with your "go to guy" on an off night added up to a poor performance for CSUN.

Hope they can put it together for tomorrow but will need a big night from the middles since Cary and Dan will still be less than 100%. Not sure if the starting libero will be available Friday. Less sure if that really matters as he has been off the last coupe of matches.
Coach Campbell will make adjustments but so will Wilton.

Hope Hawaii is overconfident after the sweep and the Matadors provide a better show for the great Hawai'i fans.

You were right about the announcer, he was great. Nice to get the play by play here at home.

[warriordudette88]

chris mclaughlin said that pedraza will not play on friday because he is going to miami for an INS meeting so that he can gain US citizenship. we'll see how that factors in for CSUN.

I would also like to see Beckwith set Maulia and Dio more. Both of them are hitting for really high percentages, and Maulia can be unstoppable at times. the match seemed like a highly offensive match, especially in game 2 when both teams were hitting in about the 500s or higher. hopefully hawaii does not become overconfident, as some of the teams in the past had a tendency to do.