The first set of the night was by far the most dramatic as it featured 14 ties and 5 lead changes. A kill from both teams followed by back-to-back service errors produced two ties in the first four points of the match. After the Tritons (3-7) moved in front by a couple of points, the Royals (2-3) answered back to take a 6-5 lead on a kill from Freshman Thomas Cervetti.
HIU held the lead until UCSD moved back in front at 15-14. A block from Sophomore Griffin Levinski and Cervetti knotted the set at 16-16. Three ties later, the Tritons took the upper hand at 21-20. But the Royals only allowed the Tritons one more point before closing out the set 25-22. Three of the final four points of the set came on HIU kills- two by Speth and one by Blonski.
Speth impressed in the first set with 4 kills on 7 attacks with no errors (.571). Cervetti and Blonski both added three kills.
As dramatic as the first set was the second set was the complete opposite. A kill from Junior Jeff Wolf tied the score at 1-1. But that was followed by a 5-0 run by the Tritons. HIU would not get any closer than four points the rest of the set.
Set three featured 5 ties and 2 lead changes in the early going before Hope International took control of the set. The two lead changes took place in the first 7 points. When UCSD committed a hitting error to push HIU to a 4-3 advantage, the Royals would not trail in the set again. Following the last tie of the set at 8-8, a kill from Blonski moved the Royals to the top side of the score for good in the set.
Five kills by Speth led the way but Cervetti, Blonski, and Wolf all had three kills.
The nine ties and three lead changes of the fourth set all took place in the first 18 points of the set. Every ties possible from 1-1 through 9-9 occurred before four consecutive HIU attack errors gave the Tritons opening they need to take the set.
Wolf connected for a kill on all three of his attacks in the fourth set.
HIU took the early lead in the fifth and final set. But UCSD took the lead for good in the match following a service error from the Royals. The Tritons never lead by more than three points in the final set with the Royals closing the gap to just one on several occasions including at 13-12. However, the Tritons produced the two kills they needed to close out the match.
In the end, the two teams had the same number of kills (53) so the Royals can look at the 8 more service errors and 7 more hitting errors as the difference in the match.
The 27 combined kills from Speth and Blonski were followed by 12 kills from Cervetti. Wolf had a great hitting night with 9 kills while hitting .412.
Senior Danilo Pereira gave out 40 assists.
Senior Henry Valiente produced his season high of 13 digs.
Levinski ended with 7 total blocks including 2 solo blocks. Wolf added 2 solo blocks of his own on his way to three total blocks.
Carl Eberts (15 kills) and Vaun Lennon (14 kills) helped the Tritons improve to a perfect 7-0 all time against the Royals.
The Royals now have almost two weeks to re-energize. They do not play a real match again until they travel to Los Angeles to meet up with the USC Trojans. First serve is set for 7:00 pm in the Galen Center on Thursday, February 16.
