Pepperdine University
Hawai'I
Epic Five-Set Battle Falls in Favor of Hawaii
3/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
Box Score: #6 Hawaii 3, #5 Pepperdine 2
HONOLULU - The #5 Pepperdine men's volleyball team battled #6 Hawaii with everything it had, but in the end, fell on the short side of an epic five-set affair. After nearly three hours, the Rainbow Warriors were finally declared the 24-26, 25-22, 30-28, 27-29, 15-13 winners.
Hawaii, notorious for its strong home court advantage, improves to 15-3 overall and is now tied for first place in the MPSF with UC Irvine at 12-2. The Waves, who allowed UH to hit .321 (76 kills-26 errors-156 attempts), fall to 13-4 and a fourth-place 9-4 in league play.
Parker Kalmbach (Coto de Caza, Calif./Tesoro HS) paced Pepperdine with 22.5 points off of 20 kills and five blocks. Josh Taylor (Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou School) followed with 17 kills and six blocks for an even 20.0 points.
Overall, the Waves swung at a .282 (65-23-149) clip. Pepperdine hit .387 or better in the sets won, but found themselves in the red with four kills and five errors in the deciding fifth set. Even so, the Waves put forth a solid effort at the end before succumbing to a narrow 15-13 defeat.
Matt West (Seattle, Wash./Shorewood HS) finished the night with a season-high 58 assists, while Matt Tarantino (Van Nuys, Calif./Bishop Alemany) made his first start since January with eight kills hitting .500, three aces and five blocks.
Nikola Antonijevic (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson HS) led all defenders with seven blocks. Scott Rhein (Pleasant View, Tenn./Aaron Academy) reached double figures in kills with 11, and Brennan Anderson (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona Del Mar HS/Ohio State) collected 14 digs.
The teams battled point-for-point for most of the first set until Hawaii charted a block and an ace in succession to take a 12-9 lead. The Waves climbed out of the hole and knotted the frame at 14-all. The home squad would once again gain a small edge at 20-18, only to see Pepperdine even the score, this time at 21-21. Kalmbach nailed down his seventh kill of set to give the Waves a 22-21 lead, and a strong sideout game ensued. Up 25-24, Rhein came up with the dig to give Kalmbach the opportunity to put the ball away. It was the opposite's eighth kill of the frame.
The two sides continued to battle closely. UH took a 19-15 lead midway through set two, but a 3-0 Pepperdine run cut the deficit to one. The Warriors went back in front by two after Sinisa Zarkovic killed off a sideout, and the Waves would not be able to get any closer. The home team put away the frame 25-22 to tie the match up 1-1.
Pepperdine bounced back in the third, sprinting out to a 12-8 advantage following back-to-back kills by West and Kalmbach. A 5-1 UH run found the Rainbow Warriors back out in front at 16-15, but the Waves would not allow the momentum to shift, and kept things close. The teams once again went to extra points, and after Pepperdine fought off five set points, Hawaii finally capitalized on set point No. 6 to win 30-28.
Set four was a barnburner, going beyond the 25-point mark yet again to determine a winner. Pepperdine took set point twice, desperate to get the win and force a fifth frame, but UH came up with the sideout each time. The Warriors had the Waves against the ropes and took two match point opportunities of their own, however, Taylor killed off the first chance and a UH error negated the second one. It was the Malibu Roofing Company who came through in the end. Antonijevic and Kalmbach teamed up for two-straight blocks to clinch the set 29-27. Pepperdine was credited with eight blocks in the stanza.
Hawaii charted a few early blocks of its own to take an 8-4 lead in the deciding set, and appeared to be well on its way to victory. A 5-1 run punctuated by a Tarantino ace brought the Waves back within one, 11-12, and force a UH timeout. Antonijevic and Taylor threw the roof on to tie the score, but Hawaii sided out and scored to take double match point. A service error made it a one point game, and Zarkovic sided out for his team with his 20th kill of the match to clinch the contest, 15-13.
Pepperdine hosts UC Irvine, tied for first place in the MPSF standings, on Saturday, March 14 in Malibu. First serve is set for 7 p.m. inside Firestone Fieldhouse.
