The Warriors open 2012 season with 3-0 win over UC San Diego
The men’s volleyball team of University of Hawaii opened the regular season by taking on UC San Diego on Thursday, January 5, 2012.
The Warriors jumped out of the gate in the season opening game and held off UC SD for 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-20) victory. The Stan Sheriff Centre in the UH Campus hosted the thrilling encounter, where the home team totally benefitted the competitive edge
and clinched success.
The outside hitter JP Marks and Steven Hunt led the Warriors with top offence and they led the team to success.
The hosts opened the game on strong footing and picked up an early lead in first set. The powerful serve by JP Marks created trouble for visiting team, while Johan Timmer put more pressure on San Diego players with unstoppable spikes. The Warriors influenced
the opponent with strong offence and solid defence in the first frame. The local boys continued with consistent performance until the set points and claimed the set, 25-16.
A service error by Marks gave the first point of second set to UC SD. However, the score tied at 1-1 as Mike Brunsting of UC SD did the same in the next minute and missed the serve. Gradually, Warriors paced things with powerful hits. They added quick points
and took the score to 8-4. UC SD trailed behind with a deficit of four points but did not lose heart.
Vaun Lennon and Brunsting formed a great combination and counter-attacked the Warriors. They rallied a 4-0 run and chased the score at 8-8. The visiting team continued with success and went up on the scorecard.
Nonetheless, the Warriors changed the strategy and managed to catch up the UC SD at 11-all. From that point onward, Warriors kept a strong grip in the game and did not allow the visitors to come up. Warriors led all the way until 25-20 and extended their
lead to 2-0.
Despite putting all their efforts and giving a tough competition to Warriors in second set, the UC SD seemed pretty much despondent in the following set. The opening phase of third set featured a balanced action but then the Warriors gained control of the
operations. They seized victory against UC SD by sending an identical score of 25-20 in third set. The Warriors added the first win of the season to their tally and celebrated the night.
The Warriors finished the 2011 season ranked No. 8 nationally and emerged as one of the top-10 national teams for 19th time in the school history. They completed last season with an overall record of 15-13 and qualified for the MPSF postseason tournament
for the second straight year.
The head coach Charlie Wade helped the team to shine out in the last season and he is still with the team in the 2012 season. The first win of the season shows that Warriors are going to carry the same momentum this year.
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