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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, February 14, 2010

Warriors regroup with sweep


By Kalani Takase
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Hawai'i's Jonas Umlauft, right, attacks the Alberta triple block of, from left, Jason Derocco, Simon Lidster and Spencer Leiske during an exhibition match at the Stan Sheriff Center. Hawai'i won, 30-24, 37-35, 30-28.

NORMAN SHAPIRO | The Honolulu Advertiser

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One night after it was swept on its home court, the University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team returned the favor.

Led by Jonas Umlauft's match-high 22 kills, the Warriors beat visiting Alberta, 30-24, 37-35, 30-28, in an exhibition match before 1,523 fans at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Umlauft took 34 swings, committing just five errors, to hit .500. Left-side hitter Joshua Walker put away 15 kills and Brennon Dyer added 10 for the Warriors.

While the result and statistics of the match do not officially count, Hawai'i coach Charlie Wade said it was important that his team got back on the winning track.

"It was good that we played well and did some things that we were talking about," Wade said. "We were good and consistent from the service line and played efficiently in really tight situations."

Nejc Zemljak had four of Hawai'i's eight aces and Walker added three.

The Warriors reeled off five straight points late in Set 1 to take a 27-19 lead, but the Golden Bears scored six of the next seven points to pull within 29-25. However, Umlauft put away his sixth kill of the set to end it.

Alberta fought toe-to-toe with Hawai'i in Set 2, which had 21 ties.

Neither team led by more than three points until Simon Lister's ace gave the Golden Bears a 22-18 lead. Later in the set, Alberta went up 31-30 on a Justin Merta kill and appeared to end the set on the ensuing play, but was whistled for a rotation violation and Hawai'i was awarded a point to tie it at 31. The teams exchanged points until Steven Hunt put down a kill to give the Warriors a 36-35 lead and Dyer solo blocked Merta on set point.

Hawai'i got off to a quick start in Set 3. An ace by Walker put the Warriors ahead 6-1 and forced an early Alberta timeout. The Golden Bears rallied and tied it at 10 on Tanner Nault's ace. Later in the set, Hawai'i had a 28-24 lead, but Jay Olmstead and Thomas Jarmoc put away consecutive kills for Alberta and the Golden Bears blocked the next two Warriors attacks to tie it at 28. Walker then got a kill on his next attempt and, on match point, Jarmoc committed a hitting error.

"We tried to start with a lot of confidence," Umlauft said. "Even though we didn't play very well (Friday), it was important for us to have fun (last night) and know that we are good and I think that helped us a lot through the whole game."

Wade credited Dyer and Matt Rawson in the middle for drawing away blockers from Walker and Umlauft.

"It's kind of selfless on their part," Wade said. "The middles, they don't get a lot of credit for that when they're just running, jumping and getting their guy in the air, so when the set goes outside, we've opened up a situation for them."

Alberta coach Terry Danyluk gave credit to Hawai'i for making adjustments from Friday's match.

"They went to (Umlauft) a little bit more, they went to Hunt a little less, and they went to the middle less, too," Danyluk said. "They spread their offense out, we were kind of chasing a bit. I thought they played a lot better and we played worse, but their execution was very good."

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