UCLA vs. UC Irvine *Ncaa Quarterfinals Upset

All night long, we're underway in this regional event. And the first swing, that is Christian Cichieski for the kill. And a good sign for Hawaii fans, if they can get Christian going early, he can dominate a match. He's had a great season, a season that has been filled with nagging injuries. But it's great to see Christian coming off the bat, swinging for Hawaii fans. He's only played in 18 of Hawaii's 32 matches, so he's been battling the injury bug. Fred Rosenthal, good serve. And a good up. And Hawaii unable to put up 21. That's Sterling Foley, he had nine kills last night in 17 swings in that matchup. They got them to this game against the University of Hawaii. They beat Belmont Abbey in three straight. 6'11", Wesley Smith to put him in play, floats it over. Set to the far side, not a good set. A little bit out of system, just lucky to get that ball over the net. And back the other way off the hands of Rosenthal. Good save by Sakenoko, but then dumping it down over the net. And there's what we were talking about in the middle. That's that 7-footer, Parker Tomkinson. Yeah, Tomkinson just looming over the net, but a tough play for Hawaii there. Not a very clean play off of the serve receive on that foreset to Cichieski. Roar with the pass. Justin Todd with the kill, and we should mention Justin Todd because he actually came out of that match in Long Beach. He was wearing a boot. He was actually in the semifinals there where he got hurt against San Diego. He twisted his ankle on a shank pass, and it was kind of a free play and could not compete in that championship match against Long Beach. Hawaii fans happy to see him back on the TeraFlex tonight. Hawaii's other Frenchman, Adrian Roar with the ace. And this is going to be a key for Hawaii. They are known to put teams in trouble with their service pressure. Adrian Roar gets things going, gets the first ace of the night for Hawaii. In talking with Coach Nygaard, he says it's going to be key for them to have a solid first contact. Roar with another hard-hit ball, but into the net. Side out, even a three. Cooper keen now. A six-foot, seven-foot freshman out of Manhattan Beach, California. And another net serve. And I think this is something we're going to kind of see a little bit more of in this first set. Both these teams kind of feeling each other out, adjusting to this environment. A little bit of nerves by some of these players in this big-time environment. Justin Todd back for Hawaii to serve it. And everybody's swinging away so far from the service line. And the block, the double roof by Hawaii. Teaming up for Teeski. And Trevor Jordan. Look here, Hawaii's triple block here. Looks like Travell Jordan got the majority of that swing. And that's going to be a key also for Hawaii. If they can get USC out of system, avoid allowing the Trojans to run the middle of the court and force those out-of-system sets. Five serving, three time. This time, just out. They'll go to USC, 5-4. Hawaii just underway in this NCAA regional. Again, the winner to go to UCLA and play next week's Final Four National Championship Tournament. Stirling Foley, the 6'6 sophomore from Newport Beach. Good pass by Sakenoko. And it goes back to Lui. Didn't get a lot on it. Six hands across the triple block for Hawaii. And this is something Hawaii has worked really hard at, is trying at all times to get three blockers as much as possible. You see there, Lui Sakenoko, that third blocker, helping out, taking away Dylan Klein's sharp cross-court, a hit that he loves to attack. Teeski with a good serve. Good pass and a swing. Again, the blocker! And Hawaii, early on, having a little bit of a block party here in the Stan Sheriff Center. And this will be interesting to see how Dylan Klein responds after back-to-back blocks. This is a player, again, has a lot of shots in his toolkit, but can't get past this huge Hawaii wall. Christian Teeski back to serve. Floats it over. One of the few soft serves we've seen already tonight. And from the back row, flying in, getting the kill, is Stirling Foley. Too easy of a serve that time by Teeski, trying to go for that off-speed row shot. It was a perfect pass and win. USC can run the middle like that on that pick. They will attack it as much as possible. Setting it up, Sakenoko, a little joust at the net. And again, two players going up, two sets in a row. Hawaii back in system. On the near side, putting it down for the kill, there's Teeski. Again, we're seeing some sloppy play at times. I think both of these teams just kind of feeling each other out. There's a little bit of nerves. The sets aren't necessarily perfect, but these hitters are doing a nice job making adjustments and using the block. Christian picking up his second kill of the night. Sakenoko, 30 aces on the season. Off the net. And set up and hammered down by Wesley Smith. 6'11", sophomore out of Encinitas, California. Had four kills last night against Belmont Abbey. The redshirt sophomore there just proving to be a dominating force in the middle for the Trojans. Good pass by Hawaii. And Travell Jordan taking care of business. Yeah, Jordan answers right back. Hawaii able to stay in system, running the middle. Jordan had a quiet week last week in the Big West Championship. Only three kills in that five-set loss to Long Beach, Hawaii trying to establish Jordan early here against the Trojans. Setting to the near side, dunking it down but hitting it wide. Dylan Klein not on his game right now. And a heads-up play by Tread Rosenthal that time. Klein knew that ball was out of system, tried to wipe the ball off Rosenthal's hand, and Rosenthal just pulled his hands under the last minute to avoid being used. Jordan floats it over. Setting it out of the back row. And that is Sterling Foley. Hawaii middle blockers have got to be patient when they are in system. You can see here, the middle blocker Todd goes up that time with Smith, leaving that open for Foley. Foley picks up his second kill of the match. Here's Dylan Klein with the serve. Nice pass set to the far side. Adrian Rohr gets it down. Adrian Rohr picking up his first kill of the night. For last week against Long Beach, had 15 kills but only hit 175. He's looking to have a more efficient outing tonight. 6'11", Tread Rosenthal back to serve. An 11th time setter of the week. And that serve just beyond the service line. And Hawaii holds on to an 11-8 advantage. Third service error already for Hawaii. Something that head coach Charlie Wade is not going to be happy about. He likes his teams to be efficient from the service line, minimizing those errors. Rohr, good pass. And Justin Todd taking care of business with the kill. And a good sign for Hawaii to get out of that rotation number one. A lot of teams will do that. They went right to area number two. Rohr did a nice job of passing that. And Rosenthal on a string to Todd in the middle, picking up his second kill. Rohr back to serve for Hawaii. Oh, served a bomb. Great pass. And that ball is out. Johnny Dykstra, the libero wearing the black jersey for USC, made just a great dig and a great pass. But the hit went long. Point for Hawaii. It is now 13-8. Crowd starting to make a little bit of noise, this hometown crowd. Another good serve by Rohr. They're going to send it to the far side. Blocked in the roof. But it's out. Great swing by Cooper Keene bailing the Trojans out. They were out of system that time. Keene, who had ten kills last night, hit 375. The freshman from Manhattan Beach being asked to do a lot in this, his first year for the Trojans. Another good set. Passed by Greenridge. Sakenoko with a good swing, another good dig. And then just popping it over and then off the block, off the hands of Hawaii. And an easy point that time for the Trojans. That's a play that time. Tompkinson hitting a high ball. It helps when you're seven feet. You don't have to jump that high. Tompkinson just nice high extension going for the corner. A lot of pressure on the center, though, to get it up there in the stratosphere. From the back row. And Adrian Rohr just explodes out of the back court thanks to that pass by Quinton Greenridge. The first team selection for the Big West as the libero position allows Hawaii to run that offense and that big set to Rohr. Adrian Rohr six feet five, but when he's flying out from that three-meter line, he looks like he's seven feet the way he comes flying in there. Another good serve by Kearney, and that time put down by the Trojans of USC. Great play that time by USC. Getting a first contact that allowed them to run that middle against Tompkinson. Tompkinson led the MPSF in blocks per set. And the second team all MPSF showing why right there. Sterling Foley into the net. And Hawaii first to 15. 15-11 Warriors. And a timeout on the floor. So a pretty fast and furious start for both teams. We'll take a break. We want you leading in set number one. And there you see a shot of Jeff Nygaard in his 11th season. We talked to him before the match. He said this trip is all business. Yeah, went so far to say that he limited the amount of sun time that his players got. No more than 30 minutes to avoid any sunburn or sun exposure. Off the block, chasing it down back there is Adrian Warr. A little joust at the net. Trojans opportunity to get back in system. And wiping it off the block there. Getting the kill is Dylan Klein. And that's a play that Klein was trying to do a few plays ago where Tread pulled his hands down. That time Dylan Klein able to find success using the 6'11 Rosenclaw's hands. To get his first kill of this first set. From the back row, hammering it down. Christian Petruski. Petruski picking up his third kill. Hitting 600 right now for Hawaii. A nice distribution in this Hawaii offense so far. Warr also has two. Todd has two kills as well. Hawaii's passing allowing them to run a pretty clean offense. It's not going to feel good, sir. Good dig by the Rainbow Warriors. Setting it back up. Flying out of the back row. And putting it down that time. Disturbing pulling. You can hear the groans from the crowd. That's, you know, it's a knowledgeable crowd after two great digs by Quinton Greenish that time. Getting it off the chest and just, Hey, I got it. You take it between Warr and Jordan. Warr, a bit of an overpass. Hawaii with the joust at the net. And that is 6'11, Ken Rosenthal winning a high elevation for the Hawaiian point. Rosenthal showing why he was named the Big West Player of the Year on this joust here. Two players that are very familiar with each other. We're going to see them joust all night long. Rosenthal winning that one. Pretty nice luxury to have a setter that goes 6'11. Makana Wade in for the first serve. Or Kainoa Wade, excuse me. Makana, his older brother. And Krzyzewski again. While he was still just a young boy. And I don't think there's anybody that would ever question that there's any father-son favoritism going on here. It is a young man in Kainoa Wade who has certainly proven his spot in this Hawaii lineup. But good news for Hawaii right now when you're looking at just the stats currently. Hawaii hitting .600 with five and a half blocks in just this first set alone. Hawaii has had a reputation of coming off slow in some of these big matches. But not the case tonight. Hawaii is fired up. And again, Kainoa Wade, the 6'10 sophomore. And he's proven to be a great server on the season for the University of Hawaii. 18-13 Warriors. Wade hammers into the net. Point USC. A good time-out that time by Coach Nygaard. He's gonna ice the server. And back to serve is one of USC's best servers, Dylan Klein, who really hurt Hawaii last year when they played each other from behind the service line. Now they're just 3.8 kills per set and two aces per set. Off the block, USC with an opportunity to set it up. Not a good swing there that time by Foley. Hawaii out of the back row. Petruski, and he hits it wide left. Point USC. They're back within three. 18-15. Petruski picking up his first error. Still hitting .429. Here's Klein with the serve. Rosenthal sets the middle that time, and it's hammered down by Justin Todd. And Justin Todd has come out firing here on this 31 set, which allows Hawaii to break things up. Again, Todd, questionable if he was even gonna be playing in this match because of that injury. Has done a nice job spending time in the rehab and training room to get himself ready for tonight. Rosenthal serving long. Point USC. They're back within three. These teams, as we mentioned earlier, when Hawaii was a member of the MPSF, a lot of history between these two teams. As mentioned, Hawaii leads the all-time series 45-38. That's a lot of times these two programs have gone head-to-head. And that serve has floated long. Point Hawaii. And they get back to that four-point separation. These two teams were actually set to meet earlier this season in that NIL tournament that was canceled, a tournament that was gonna feature some of the top teams in the country as a preview to the national championship. We're getting that matchup that many were waiting for here tonight as Adrian Warff picks up his first ace of the night. But it looks like Coach Nygaard is gonna challenge that. 36 aces on the year for Roar. That one was very close since we have our first challenge of the night. See if we can get a look here on this. And in these playoffs, we have actually four linesmen. So one of the linesmen is actually responsible for just watching this line. I think that's in. Hard to tell there, but you certainly don't see any green paint between that ball. Yeah, you mentioned that Anaheim tournament. It would have been a semifinal for University of Hawaii, USC, Long Beach State, and UCLA. And unfortunately, it didn't happen. And it kind of left a gaping hole in the schedule for USC. It left them, they tried to fill that hole, and they were unable to do so. And so they had about two and a half weeks during that critical stretch, you know, the beginning, middle of March, where they didn't get to play.