No. 2 Hawaii tops No. 8 UCSB to remain unbeaten in the Big West
On a night it wasn’t at its best offensively, No. 2 Hawaii used the service line to stay undefeated in Big West volleyball. Justin Todd, Louis Sakanoko and Adrien Roure all had three aces and Todd’s all came in the final four points of the first set of the Rainbow Warriors’ 25-23, 25-18, 19-25, 25-22 victory over No.
8 UC Santa Barbara on Friday at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. A crowd of 6,831 watched Hawaii (20-3, 3-0) clinch its 15th 20-win season in program history and record its 400th victory at the Stan. Todd, who is third on the team with 23 aces this season, helped Hawaii close the first set on a 5-0 run to win it by two points.
Without that service run, the match might have had a different outcome, according to coach Charlie Wade. “For sure,” Wade said emphatically. “(Todd) didn’t make solid contact on any of them, but they all count the same.
He put it in play and that’s his job at that point. ” Todd, who has come up big at the service line for UH multiple times this season, said he tried something different during that service turn. “One of (the serves) I was tossing a little bit behind me, and so I noticed that and I like to do a cut shot when I toss it behind me and I got an ace there, so I was like, I’ll just do it again,” Todd said.
“Charlie has been giving me a lot of trust back there, going into the last couple of points, and I’ve been proving myself in those moments. ” Sophomore opposite Kristian Titriyski put down a match-high 18 kills and Sakanoko added 13 to lead Hawaii offensively. George Bruening had 15 kills to lead the Gauchos (11-8, 2-2), who are just the second team to finish with a higher hitting percentage (.