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SALT LAKE CITY — No. 2 BYU men’s volleyball was one set away from leaving the Hawaiian islands with a pair of straight-set victories over Hawaii.
You didn’t think the top-ranked Rainbow Warriors would give up that easily, though, did you?
Rado Parapunov had a match-high 30 kills, 10 digs and five blocks, and Chaz Galloway and Filip Hummer each added 10 kills to help No. 1 Hawaii rally for a reverse sweep and a 20-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-23, 19-17 win over No. 2 BYU, handing the Cougars their first loss of the season Friday night in the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu.
"I'm unbelievably proud of the team tonight for leaving it all out on the court and for putting their heart and soul into the match," BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said in a statement from the university. "A few plays went Hawaii's way and they came out victorious. I really can't express how proud I am of each of the boys and what they put out tonight. I told them that both matches this weekend were a success. We were able to see some growth and make some improvements and that is what it's all about."
Gabi Garcia Fernandez had 21 kills, eight digs, five blocks and three aces to lead the Cougars (17-1), and Davide Gardini added 17 kills, 12 digs and six blocks.
Zach Eschenberg pounded out 14 kills, Branden Oberender chipped in 10 more, and Will Stanley dished out 57 assists with nine digs for BYU, which returns to MPSF play next Friday, March 13 at Stanford before road matches at USC and Concordia Irvine.
After losing the first five sets of the two-match series at home, the top-ranked Rainbow Warriors landing a finishing blow with a 25-22 win in the third set and held off a furious BYU rally for a 25-23 fourth-set win.
Jakob Thelle ripped a kill to give Hawaii a 6-3 edge midway through the fifth set to propel the hosts into an 8-4 lead at the mid-set rotation.
Then Chaz Galloway happened, ripping a monstrous block to give the ‘Bows a 9-4 lead. Back-to-back stuffs by Fernandez and Miki Jauhiainen, who finished with nine blocks, paced a 5-0 run to tie the match at 9-all.
BYU trailed by as much as four in the fifth set, but took an 11-10 edge on Gardini’s kill that capped a 7-1 run.
Fernandez’s third ace of the match gave BYU a 13-11 advantage, and a chance to close out the five-set victory. It was also his 56th ace of the season, breaking BYU’s single-season record of 55 set by Taylor Sander.
"What an accomplishment this is for Gabi," Olmstead said. "It's impressive considering how much of the season we still have ahead of us and how much he can still continue to improve. It is exciting whenever you can accomplish something like this and have your name next to some of the greats in BYU volleyball history."
But it wasn’t enough.
Max Rosenfeld’s solo block gave the Warriors a match-point opportunity, and Hawaii needed five more such chances to put away BYU’s first loss of the season on Pat Gasman’s ace.
