Box Score

STANFORD, Calif. – The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team saw its season come to an end against top-ranked Stanford, 30-24, 30-28, 33-31, Thursday night in the semifinals of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship Tournament at Maples Pavilion.

 

The Warriors end their season at 19-10 under first-year head coach Charlie Wade. Stanford (21-6) advances to the MPSF Championship match where they will face third-seeded Cal State Northridge, who were 3-2 winners over BYU in the night's first semifinal.

 

Leading the Warriors was opposite Jonas Umlauft, who earlier in the day was awarded the AVCA's Newcomer of the Year and first-team All-American. The 6-foot-9 German finished with 16 kills, six digs, and three blocks. Outside hitter Joshua Walker, a second-team All-American, tallied 15 kills while outside hitter Steven Hunt added 13 kills and hit a blistering .545.

 

For the Cardinal, MPSF Player of the Year Brad Lawson had 18 kills along with first-team All-American Evan Romero. Kawika Shoji, another All-American, had 49 assists and 13 digs while leading Stanford to a team hitting percentage of .374.

 

In Set 1, the Cardinal jumped out to a 9-7 lead and extended it to 15-10 at the midway point. Stanford held its largest lead at 24-17 after an ace by Punahou graduate Spencer McLachlin. UH closed to within 28-24 before the Cardinal finished off the set 30-24. Stanford hit .531 in the game compared to .156 for Hawai'i.

 

In Set 2, Stanford led 6-2 after the Warriors committed three errors in their first nine swings. UH tied it at 13 after roofing Lawson and led 21-19 after back-to-back hitting errors by McLachlin. With Shoji at the service line, two great serves led to consecutive points and a block of UH's Matt Rawson put the Cardinal ahead 23-21.

 

UH rallied back and a kill by Umlauft gave the Warriors a 26-25 lead. But Stanford surged ahead 28-26 by stuffing Umlauft and an ace by Romero. UH answered and tied it at 28 with a kill by Walker but after a Stanford side-out, a controversial net call on a Rawson kill attempt which would have tied it at 29, gave the Cardinal the 30-28 victory.

 

The Cardinal jumped all over Hawai'i in Set 3, 9-3. The Warriors rallied back to within 11-10 with five straight points fueled by three consecutive Cardinal hitting errors. UH tied it at 13 and momentarily took a 15-14 lead after blocking Romero. UH jumped ahead 23-21 with a big block on Gus Ellis and traded side-outs until Hunt's kill gave the Warriors a 29-27 lead. On UH's second set point, Umlauft was blocked and Walker hit wide giving Stanford match point. On the very next play, Umlauft hit the antenna giving the Cardinal the victory.

 

Six seniors played their final match for Hawai'i, including middle blockers Rawson (4 kills, 4 blocks) and Steven Grgas (5 kills, 3 blocks) and libero Ric Cervantes (6 digs).