Warriors defeat Springfield Pride at home 3-0 – Men’s Volleyball
The 18th Outrigger Hotels Volleyball Invitational is underway in Hawaii and all the action is being staged at the Stan Sheriff Centre.
On Thursday night, the University of Hawaii men’s volleyball team went against conventional rival Springfield and earned a 3-0 victory. The Warriors profited from the home advantage and seized the match by posting 25-21, 26-24, and 25-12 in straight sets.
It was the first appearance of Warriors at the Home Invitational Tournament.
Senior outside hitter Steven Hunt played a vital role in Warriors’ success. He notched match-high 16 kills and recorded a hitting percentage of .371. Equally talented JP Marks followed him up with 12 kills with a relatively high hitting percentage than Hunt.
On the defence side, Nick West did a great job and dismissed many of the attack attempts of the opponents. The visiting team was supported by Angel Perez, who added 10 kills and also had seven digs to his name.
The opening phase of the game featured a balanced game from both sides. In the first few minutes of the game, scores were tied at 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, and 5-5. The game progressed in the same fashion until 13-all. That was the last tie of the scores before
Warriors managed to keep the visiting team in chase.
Hence, a total of 13 ties of the scores were featured in the opening set of the match. The spectators thoroughly enjoyed the close contest of two teams and made wild guesses about the potential winner of the match. Warriors paced things with some stellar
shots and stretched the gap of points. Eventually, they captured the first frame at 25-21.
The second unfolded kind of similar story as both teams remained incredibly close to each other. However, the Warriors had clear advantage of winning the previous set and they delivered full of confidence shots. Teams exchanged long rallies and traded lead
for some eleven times in the second set. The result was not different as Warrior posted 26-24 and extended their lead to 2-0. Johann Timmer and Jarrod Lofy of Pride developed a great chemistry in second set and led the Warriors to success.
With two sets in hand, the Warriors showed the determination to finish the match in straight sets. They jumped out of the gate and built a lead of 8-3. The players of visiting team seemed visibly exhausted and drained out of energy. The home squad took full
advantage of the nervousness of Pride and put more pressure on them. UH continued with same velocity and speed, and finally cruised to 25-12 win in third set.
The tournament will be continued until Friday and Warriors will play two more matches against Lewis and UCLA, respectively.
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