Box Score

HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team dropped the first of two Mountain Pacific Sports Federation matches to Stanford, 30-28, 30-26, 30-27, Thursday night, at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Warriors (3-9, 2-7 MPSF) lost for the first time at home to the Cardinal since 2003.

 

The Warriors were led by Joshua Walker's 13 kills and six blocks. Jarrod Lofy, starting for Matt Rawson in the middle, added seven kills and six blocks while Jim Clar came off the bench and had seven kills, three digs, and three blocks in two games.

For the first time this season, Sean Carney moved from his regular setter position to outside hitter and posted six kills. Reserve setter Nejc Zemljak started his first match and dished out 38 assists.

 

As a team, UH out-blocked Stanford 15.5-5.5 and had five services aces compared to the Cardinal's two. However the Warriors could not find an answer for Evan Romero, who slammed 21 kills and hit .385. Brad Lawson, and Iolani School alum, had 11 kills and four digs. Kawika Shoji dished out 48 assists and led the Cardinal to .276 hitting.

 

Stanford, which features five players from Hawai'i including women's volleyball coach Dave Shoji's two sons and KFVE color commentator Chris McLachlin's son, won Set 1, 30-28. UH and Stanford traded blows with no team leading by more than two points throughout the game. The Cardinal broke a 27-27 tie with consecutive kills by Romero and Spencer McLachlin's kill on their second match point.

 

The Warriors came out flat in Set 2, committing four early hitting errors and falling behind 9-5. UH's big block came alive and consecutive blocks by Steven Grgas and Walker tied the score at 13. However, the Cardinal answered back with four straight points during a 7-1 run to take a commanding 20-14 lead. The Stanford lead stretched to as much as seven before five straight Warrior points closed the deficit to 23-21. However the teams traded sideouts the rest of the way and the Cardinal held off UH, 30-26

 

The Warriors led for much of the first half of Set 3 before a 7-2 run gave Stanford an 18-15 lead. Consecutive kills by Clar and three Cardinal hitting errors allowed UH to take a 20-18 advantage. But Stanford settled down, tying the game at 20 and retaking the lead at 23-22. With the score tied at 23, the Cardinal scored four straight, including consecutive McLachlin kills for a commanding 27-23 lead. At match point, the Garrett Werner ended the match and handing the Warriors their third straight loss.

 

The teams take a day off before its rematch on Saturday. First serve is 7:00 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.