March 9, 2013

Final Stats

Box Score

The No. 11 Hawaii men's volleyball team battled back from a 2-set deficit and staved off 3 match points in the fourth set to defeat No. 13 USC, 25-26, 21-25, 25-22, 26-24, 15-9 in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match on Friday (March 8) in front of 3,205 fans in Honolulu.

Hawaii improved to 6-12 overall and 5-10 in the MPSF, while the Trojans fell to 4-10 overall and in the MPSF.

The teams hit nearly even, with Hawaii at .290 and USC at .288. The Trojans posted 50 digs to UH's 28, but the Warriors had a significant blocking edge (15.5 to 7.5). USC's 9 aces were a season-high, while Hawaii's 12 aces were the most against Troy in 2013.

For USC, Tanner Jansen had a match-best 20 kills and he added 7 digs, while Joey Booth had a career-high 19 kills and served 3 aces, Henry Cassiday had 15 digs and 3 aces and Cristian Rivera had 11 digs.

Sinisa Zarkovic and Brook Sedore both had 16 kills for Hawaii. Zarkovic, who hit. 452, added 10 digs and 4 aces, while Sedore had 3 aces. Taylor Averill had 8 blocks.

USC trailed 21-18 in the first set before scoring 3 of the next 4 points to tie it at 22-22 and then soon after used back-to-back blocks to end the extended set. In the second set, the Trojans went on a 4-point run to go up 8-4, built the lead to 19-9, and then held off a late Warrior charge. The third set went back and forth, as USC trailed 11-6, then scored 3 unanswered points to lead 16-15 only to have Hawaii soon after go on a 4-0 run to build a 21-19 edge and Troy couldn't catch up again. Hawaii trailed for all but the final 2 points of the fourth set, trailing by as much as 6 points at 15-9, but the Warriors overcame 3 match points and scored the set's final 5 points. USC fell behind quickly in the fifth set, 4-1, and could never recover as the Warriors hit .700.

The teams meet again on Sunday (March 10) at 5 p.m. HT in Honolulu.