Those Warriors did it again!
I wasn’t writing this one up while it was ongoing, because I didn’t think this match was televised/webcast. The schedule on the webcast client page didn’t list it. Thankfully the Hawaii Athletics twitter account clued me in about 10 minutes after it started.
The first set was tight, back and forth. It was 24’s before USC took back to back points to go up 1-0. I swear the only time Hawaii has won set 1 this season was the night they swept Pepperdine. Seems every other time, even in their wins, they always lose set 1. But set 2 made it look like it was going to be a quick night in Manoa, as the Trojans had set point at 24-18, before eventually finishing it off 25-21.
The Warriors fought back and claimed set 4 25-22, but even that had me unconvinced that anything big was happening, since it happened last week in the second Northridge match before any hopes of a comeback fizzled out in the 4th.
It looked like the same was bound to happen tonight. USC seized an 8-1 lead at the beginning of the 4th, and though Hawaii whittled it away as the set wore on, they still faced match point on service trailing 24-22.
That’s when the magic began.
Probably Hawaii’s second-best server, Brook Sedore (and to be second-best server as a full-time player is a heck of a thing) rotated to the service line. He got a back-row kill on his own serve. He elicited an overpass that Jace Olsen, who had only just subbed into the match, obliterated. And then at 25-24 he came up with an ace serve to force the decider. Clutch stuff!
It was pretty clear right away that the elastic had snapped on the USC side. Howard Dashefsky made note of the fact that USC’s coach seemed to be celebrating at 24-21 in the 4th. Not that you could really blame him — that’s a winning position 97 percent of the time. In a blink, Hawaii ran out to a 7-3 edge in the decider, largely behind some more fine serving from Sedore. At 7-3, it was Siki Zarkovic who was at the service line, and he came up with an ace to bring us to the side change, and another to bring us out of it. From 9-3, it was basically over.
#11 Hawaii d. #13 USC (24-26, 21-25, 25-22, 26-24, 15-9)
This one doesn’t have me fawning in amazement quite like that Stanford match from a month or so ago…but you know, maybe it should. It was an amazing turnaround. The broadcast interviewed Sedore afterward, and he said there was really nothing to it. The team just resolved to go out and play the best they could. Mission accomplished there. Although I must say that knowing the team are capable of scintillating volleyball like this only makes those moments when they do fall down 8-1 or something all the more frustrating. Because when they’re on like they were towards the end of tonight’s match, nobody in America can beat them.
Return match Sunday…and that one will not be broadcast. Oceanic’s cameras will be at the baseball stadium. Beggars can’t be choosy, but having ’em in the Stan Sheriff would make it a lot more likely for a home win (Hawaii’s baseball team is kind of terrible). That match will be just as important as tonight’s for Hawaii’s fleeting playoff hopes, because a loss puts them right back where they started this week, and that’s not where they need to be.
This was Hawaii’s tenth 5-set match of the season, setting a new school record. I had the thought that I’m looking forward to when Brook Sedore suits up for the Canadian national team in a few years’ time. And that’s true, but you know, I’m also looking forward to the remainder of his career was a Warrior, especially if he keeps getting better. And here’s hopin’!
The Net Set 
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