Hawaii men’s volleyball completes sweep of Long Island University By Jason Kaneshiro
2/25/23, Honolulu Star-Advertiser
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM
‘Eleu Choy, left, and Filip Humler went down for a dig against the Long Island Sharks on Friday. Filip Humler asked and Spyros Chakas delivered.
Before Chakas went back to the service line for aloha ball on Friday night, Humler gave his fellow Hawaii outside hitter some specific instructions.
“I told him, ‘You have to serve hard, not too hard, I don’t want you to ace them. I just need an overpass and that way I get that last point. It would mean a lot to me,’ ” Humler said. “He was like, ‘OK, gotchu, brah.’ ”
As requested, Chakas fired a serve, the pass floated over the net and Humler pounded it to the Taraflex to punctuate the top-ranked Rainbow Warriors’ 25-18, 25-13, 25-16 sweep of Long Island University.
Chakas finished with a match-high 10 kills, opposite Dimitrios Mouchlias added eight kills and two blocks off the bench and setter Brett Sheward directed the Warriors (13-0) to a .405 hitting percentage as they completed a sweep of the two-match series before a crowd of 4,140 at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
UH middle blocker Cole Hogland finished with five kills in six error-free swings and was in on five of the Warriors’ 8.5 blocks. Sheward had 36 assists and nine digs as UH ran its winning streak to 22 and tied the program record with a 26th consecutive home win.
The Warriors take on No. 7 Pepperdine in a two-match series starting Wednesday. The Waves (10-6) pulled off a reverse sweep to knock off previously undefeated Grand Canyon earlier Friday in Malibu, Calif. GCU’s loss left Hawaii and Charleston (14-0) as the only undefeated teams left in NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball.
Sheward again started in place of setter Jakob Thelle, who practiced this week and took part in prematch warmups for the first time in UH’s homestand. He remained on the bench during the match as he continues to rest his knees.
“We’re getting there,” coach Charlie Wade said of Thelle’s progress.
While the Warriors controlled the vast majority of the 1 hour, 37 minute match, Wade rated their efficiency as “just OK,” particularly in a first set that included six attack errors and five service errors.
“Thirteen errors in the first set was way too many, but again playing a lot of guys and literally playing our libero at setter, so you can’t be too critical,” Wade said.
“We talk about the type of errors. Some of them are in the context of what we do and are acceptable. There were a few too many of the unacceptable ones that we’re trying to eliminate.”
Alaka’i Todd made his second start of the season at opposite and had four kills in seven attempts before Mouchlias entered the match in the second set. Outside hitter Chaz Galloway led UH with six kills in the first set, when the Warriors hit .346 to LIU’s negative-.077, and Humler took over the second set.
Humler played the final two sets in his third, and longest, appearance of the season. The last of his season-high five kills held extra meaning given his late start to his senior year. His return for preseason practice after spending the winter break at home in the Czech Republic was delayed as he recovered from an illness that kept him in bed with a 105-degree fever.
Humler said, he’s “slowly getting back at it now, just grinding with all the boys, being in the practice gym longer than everybody.
“I also felt I’m not in shape, and that’s what bothered me the most because I want to help the team in the practice gym,” he said. “So this meant a lot its a good reward and I appreciate (Wade) put me in.”
Long Island (6-6) hit .000 in Wednesday’s series opener with 27 kills and 27 errors, and finished with a negative hitting percentage on Friday with 18 kills and 20 errors. Livan Moreno led the Sharks with six kills in 17 attacks with two errors.
“Before the game starts we say we have to control our side,” Chakas said after the Warriors’ 10th sweep of the season. “Make sure we get better so we make sure we’re ready for the games coming up.”
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM
Hawaii’s Brett Sheward, Guilherme Voss and Spyros Chakas looked for a block against Long Island University’s Livan Moreno on Friday.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM
Hawaii’s Chaz Galloway put up a kill against Long Island’s Livan Moreno and Kasey Clouet.
