Hawaii earns volleyball split with Stanford

By Fred Guzman

After opening the season by losing three straight home matches, the University of Hawaii men’s volleyball team plunged from sixth to 13th in the national rankings.

So, little was expected of the Rainbow Warriors going into the past weekend’s two matches against defending national champion Stanford, a team laden with former prep standouts from the Aloha State.

In a dramatic reverse in their recent form, Hawaii stunned the second-ranked Cardinal 25-22, 25-21, 21-17 on Friday night at the Stan Sheriff Center as sophomore All-American Jonas Umlauft registered 20 kills.

Last night, the same two teams engaged in a marathon rematch of epic proportions and Hawaii’s bid for a sweep fell just short.

After 2 hours, 54 minutes of at-times scintillating competition, Stanford out-lasted Hawaii 25-21, 17-25, 25-19, 34-36, 17-15.

Leading the way for the Cardinal were Spencer McLachlin, Brad Lawson and Eric Shoji – three of seven players on the Stanford roster with Hawaii ties.

McLachlin had 29 kills and was involved in seven blocks, Lawson had 18 kills and Shoji, the son of legendary Rainbow Wahine coach Dave Shoji, had a match-high 16 digs to offset the considerable efforts of Umlauft.

The 6-foot-9 German hammered 29 kills while Joshua Walker added 20 kills for Hawaii.

UH HOOPS: The Hawaii men’s basketball team appears to have turned things around, but the Rainbow Wahine continued to struggle.

The Bows won their third straight WAC game on Saturday and limited San Jose State’s high-scoring Adrian Oliver just 10 points – 13 below his average – in posting a 67-61 home win over the Spartans.

Senior power forward Bill Amis led UH with 20 points and nine rebounds, while Jostin Thomas added 14 points and 14 boards.

That’s quite a turnaround for a team that opened its WAC campaign 0-5, but has since rebounded with wins over LaTech, Fresno State and San Jose State.

The Bows next play against WAC-leading Utah State on Saturday.

The Rainbow Wahine, meantime, plunged to 0-5 in the WAC, 6-12 overall and may have hit rock bottom following Saturday’s 53-43 loss at San Jose State.

UH managed just 11 points in the first half on 14.3 percent shooting from the field, and finished with a season-low in points against a team that won for only the second time this season.

Freshman forward Kamilah Jackson again provided one of Hawaii’s few bright sports. The nation’s second-leading rebounder grabbed 13 boards to go with nine points.

UH next plays at Fresno State, where the Wahine suffered their worst WAC loss in program history last season.