Eaters Rally to Defeat the Warriors

April 21, 2006

No. 3 UC IRVINE RALLIES TO DEFEAT No. 9 HAWAII; UCI ADVANCES TO FACE BYU (boxscore)

IRVINE, Calif. – UC Irvine rallied from two games down to defeat No. 9 Hawaii 26-30, 27-30, 30-23, 30-22, 15-11 Saturday in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation quarterfinal match Saturday at Crawford Court. The Anteaters improved to 25-5 on the season and advance to the conference semifinals, where they will meet BYU at approximate 8:30 p.m. (PT) Thursday (Apr. 26) at Firestone Fieldhouse. Top-ranked Pepperdine will face UC Santa Barbara in the early match at 5:30 p.m.

Four Anteaters recorded double-digit kills in front of a sold-out crowd of 852, led by senior Jayson Jablonsky, who totaled 23 to lead the team. Matt Webber added 18 kills while David Smith had a season-high 16 kills in the match. Sophomore Taylor Wilson picked up a season-high 11 digs share the lead with libero Brent Asuka and also put away 12 kills while hitting .450 for the match. Senior setter Brian Thornton dealt 72 assists while junior Aaron Harrell led the team with seven block assists.

Hawaii was paced by Lauri Hakala’s match-high 25 kills while Matt Vanzant added 17. Ric Cervantes had 12 digs for the team-high and Brian Beckwith totaled 57 assists in the effort as the Warriors fell to 13-14 on the season.

The two teams battled in game one until Hawaii opened its second two-point lead at 18-16 on a kill by Hakala. The lead extended to three at 21-18 as Beckwith fired a service ace, prompting a UCI timeout. UCI cut the lead to one at 22-21 as Hakala hit long but the Warriors created some breathing room at 28-25 as Hakala connected with Dio Dante. A UCI service error by Jablonsky would put Hawaii ahead 29-26 and Matt Rawson and Matt Vanzant paired up to deny Webber at the net for the game one win.

Hawaii took controlled most of game two and built a five-point lead at 22-17 on a UCI service error by Jon Steller. The Anteaters would come as close at two points (22-20) on a kill by Jablonsky but the Warriors rattled off the next four points to open a six-point margin. Eric Kalima sealed the game, connecting with Beckwith for the cross-court kill.

UC Irvine battled in game three, taking a three-point edge at 12-9 on a service ace from Thornton. Hawaii reclaimed the lead at 15-16 on block assists from Rawson and Hakala on Jablonsky but the hold was brief as UCI broke open a 19-19 tie with five straight points to lead 24-19. Webber and Harrell pounded consecutive kills to win 30-23. Webber hit .667 in the game with six kills to lead UCI as Hawaii was held to a .296 hitting percentage.

The Anteaters came out and took a 5-2 lead in game four, prompting a timeout by Hawaii. UCI would not give up the advantage and eventually built a six-point lead at 16-10, forcing UH to take its second timeout. Hawaii came out of the break with two straight points on a kill and service ace by Hakala but UC Irvine extended its lead to its largest of the match at nine points (24-15) as Taylor Wilson and Harrell denied Kalima at the net. Jablonsky evened the game, hitting high off the hands and following the kill with a service ace to give UCI the win.

In the deciding game, UC Irvine road the coattails of Smith, who put away five of six kills with no errors (.855) to lead the team. The Anteaters jumped out to a 3-0 lead as Thorton, Jablonsky and Smith put up the triple block against Hakala and forced a UH timeout. Harrell connected with Thornton on the quick set to give UCI a 4-0 edge before Hawaii would get on the board at 4-1. The Warriors came as close as three points on consecutive UCI errors but the Anteaters held the lead and a UH attack error would give UCI match point at 14-10. Smith recorded the game-winner for the Anteaters.