MATCH STATS
- Hawaii 3, Pepperdine 0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-15)
- Hawaii moves to 25-4; Pepperdine finished the season at 10-12
- #3 seed Hawaii advances to face #2 seed BYU in the MPSF semifinals
- Honolulu, Hawai’i
- Attendance: 6,691
- Box Score
The University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors swept the Pepperdine Waves 3-0 to advance to the MPSF semifinals. The Waves competed well in the first set, but it would not be enough as Hawaii would win by scores of 25-23, 25-20, 25-15 in front of a season high crowd of 6,691.
The #3 seeded Rainbow Warriors were lead by senior outside hitter Kupono Fey with 14 kills, eight digs, and a career-high six blocks. Sophomore opposite Stijn van Tilburg also contributed 14 kills on a .619 hitting percentage along with 10 digs, five blocks, and two aces. Freshman middle blocker Patrick Gasman had a career-high eight blocks and senior middle blocker Hendrik Mol had five blocks, six kills, and two aces. The Rainbow Warriors hit a match high .344 compared to the Waves with .095.
For the Waves, sophomore outside hitter David Wieczorek led the way with nine kills and 10 digs. Freshman outside hitter Noah Dyer finished with eight kills, while senior setter Soren Dion-Kindem had a match-high 24 assists along with eight digs.
The Rainbow Warriors never trailed in set one. Tied at 12-12, Fey lead a three point service run to put the Warriors up 15-12. The Waves closed the gap to one point at 21-22, but that would be as close as they would come as the Warriors used another service run by Dion-Kindem to close the set out at 25-23.
The second set would see the Warriors get out to an early 10-3 lead, forcing the Waves to take a timeout. Out of the timeout the Warriors pushed their lead to 11 points, 16-5. The Waves used errors made by the Warriors along with tough serving to bring the score to 19-24. A service error followed by a kill from Fey gave the second set to the Warriors 25-20.
In the third set, both teams exchanged points early on. An attack error from Dyer tied the score at 10-10 before the Warriors used a service error by the Waves to open a 13-3 point run, giving the Warriors a 23-13 lead. The Waves scored two in a row, but it would not be enough as a kill by Fey sealed the deal for the Warriors 25-15.
The #3 seed Rainbow Warriors now prepare to face the #2 seed BYU in a MPSF semifinal matchup.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy: University of Hawai’i Athletics
HONOLULU – The University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball team advanced in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament with a straight-set win over Pepperdine in the quarterfinal round Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center. A season-high crowd of 6,691 witnessed the 25-23, 25-20, 25-15 victory.
The third-seeded Rainbow Warriors (25-4) move on to the semifinals where they will meet second-seeded BYU, a straight-winner over Stanford. Top-seeded Long Beach State will host the semis and finals, April 20 & 22 at The Walter Pyramid.
UH, which extended its home win streak to 22, including a perfect 18-0 this season, is now 3-0 all-time versus Pepperdine in the MPSF quarterfinals. Hawai’i advances to the semifinals for the second time in three years and third time under head coach Charlie Wade, who improved to 10-0 versus the Waves in Honolulu.
Sixth-seeded Pepperdine (10-12) was led by David Wieczorek‘s nine kills.
Senior outside hitter Kupono Fey and sophomore opposite Stijn van Tilburg each tallied 14 kills to lead the Warriors. van Tilburg also posted a career-high 10 digs for his first career double-double and hit .619 along with five blocks and two aces. Fey also added a pair of aces with eight digs and a career-high six blocks.
As a team, Hawai’i accumulated a season-high 17.5 total blocks led by freshman middle blocker Patrick Gasman‘s career-high eight stuffs. Fellow middle Hendrik Mol added five blocks along with six kills and two aces. UH hit .344 compared to .095 for the Waves.
After Pepperdine tied the score at 12 with a block solo on Patrick Gasman in Set 1, the Warriors reeled off three straight for a 15-12 lead at the media timeout, capped by an ace by Fey. UH maintained its cushion the rest of the way as the teams traded point for point. The Warriors ended it with a double-block by Mol and van Tilburg. Hawai’i hit .385 led by six kills each by Fey and van Tilburg.
UH jumped out to a 14-5 lead in Set 2 behind a trio of four-point spurts. By the media timeout, the Warriors held a 15-5 advantage and had four team blocks while hitting .500. Hawai’i led 22-12 before the Waves mounted a comeback to within 23-19 with two aces and three Warrior hitting errors during a 7-1 run. But UH closed out the set with Fey’s 10th kill.
The Warriors used a 6-1 run to take a 14-10 lead in Set 3. UH pushed its lead to 19-12 after scoring four unanswered including an ace by van Tilburg. Hawai’i blew it wide open with three straight blocks for a 23-13 and Fey closed out the match with a shot down the middle.
Courtesy: Pepperdine Athletics
HONOLULU, Hawai’i: – The 8th-ranked and 6th-seeded Pepperdine men’s volleyball team fell 3-0 to 4th-ranked and 3rd-seeded Hawai’i at the Stan Sheriff Center on Saturday night in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation quarterfinal match-up to end the 2017 campaign.
The Rainbow Warriors (26-4) collected 25-23, 25-20 and 25-15 set scores to beat the Waves. Pepperdine ends the season with a 10-12 overall record and an 8-10 record in MPSF action.
The Waves posted a .095 hitting percentage with 29 kills and 21 errors on 84 swings, while adding 28 assists, three aces and 2.0 team blocks. Hawai’i amassed a .344 attack output with 45 kills and 13 errors on 93 attempts, while adding six aces and 17.5 blocks.
Redshirt-sophomore David Wieczorek(Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy) led the team with nine kills, while possessing 10 digs and one ace. Freshman Noah Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./Saddleback Christian Academy) added eight smashes along with an ace and two digs.
Senior Soren Dion-Kindem (Agoura Hills, Calif./Agoura HS) led the squad with 24 assists and added eight digs, an ace and two kills on a .333 success rate. Fellow senior Mitchell Penning (St. Louis, Mo./Westminster Christian HS) also produced five kills on a team-high .714 clip.
Junior Weston Barnes (Laguna Beach, Calif./Laguna Beach HS) finished the match with six digs and 22 successful service receptions for the Waves.
Each side came out strong in set one, with the Waves posting a .308 success rate compared to the opposition’s .385 output. The Rainbow Warriors held a one- to two-point lead throughout after a 6-6 tie score. Big attacks from Penning and Wieczorek helped keep the Waves close and late in the set, Pepperdine looked at a 22-23 score. UH gained the first advantage, but a kill by Dyer helped the cause. The opposition rejected the Waves at the net in the next possession, however, and finished off the first set with a 25-23 win to pull ahead 1-0 on the day.
The Rainbow Warriors put in some big work early in the second set to pull ahead, amassing a 20-11 advantage. The Waves were resilient, though, and came back within four-points at the 20-24 mark before the opposition finished the set 25-20 to pull ahead 2-0 on the day.
In the key third match, the Waves posted a strong effort in an attempt to rally. After working point-for-point en route to a 10-10 tie, however, Hawai’i continued to collect kills towards a 20-13 advantage late in the set. The Waves pieced together a few more points, but the Rainbow Warriors finished the set 25-15 to win the MPSF quarterfinal match-up in straight sets.
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