UCLA sweeps Hawaii men’s volleyball in NCAA semifinal

Sloppy play persisted for the Hawaii men’s volleyball team during its two-match NCAA Tournament showing in Columbus, Ohio, this week.

The Rainbow Warriors managed to get past Penn State, anyway, in a quarterfinal on Thursday. Against two-time defending national champion UCLA on Saturday? It was too much to ask.

Second-seeded UH came out with its worst all-around set of the season — a combination of strong play by the Bruins and unforced errors by the ‘Bows — and did not improve enough in a 25-14, 25-23, 25-23 defeat in little more than 90 minutes of play at Ohio State’s Covelli Center.

UH saw its season end at 27-6 while UCLA (22-6) advanced to face top-ranked Long Beach State in Monday’s national championship match.

UCLA, an at-large team out of the MPSF, hit a staggering .370 to UH’s .188. Setter Tread Rosenthal tallied only 19 assists, well below his usual figures.

The disparity in quality in passing was striking, and the Bruins won the blocks battle decisively, 10.0 to 4.0.

Serving, usually a UH strength, could not compare with UCLA’s, either, as the Bruins won aces 6-3 while service errors were nearly a wash.

UH won consecutive points to get within 22-21 in Set 3, but Adrien Roure sailed a serve long. UCLA committed a service error right back, but Finn Kearney put a ball into the net, giving the Bruins match point at 24-22.

Cooper Robinson put down a heater from the 3-meter line to end it.

There was some chatter between the teams through the net on the deciding point. Coach Charlie Wade challenged a net violation, delaying UCLA’s celebration. It took only a moment for the officials to confirm the call, and the teams shook hands.

Roure, a Big West first-team hitter as a freshman, led UH with 12 kills. No one else had more than six. The freshman opposite Kearney was held to .087, hitting on 23 swings. UH’s third pin hitter Louis Sakanoko had just one kill on nine swings, hitting .000.

The starting UH middles, Kurt Nusterer and Justin Todd, were held to a combined three kills.

Sean Kelly led UCLA with 13 kills (.435) and Zach Rama added 10.

Opposite Kristian Titriyski remained out of the lineup for UH.

Note: This story will be updated.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.