Two years in the making, and BYU and Hawaii finally got their answer. Unfortunately for the Cougars, it wasn’t one they liked.
The Rainbow Warriors walked out of Saturday’s NCAA championship match in Columbus, Ohio with the national title; top-seeded Hawaii swept second-seeded BYU.
The Cougars and Rainbow Warriors were on track to meet in the title match last year, but the pandemic forced the 2020 season to come to an end early. After a
While the first set started super close, the game started getting away from the Cougars towards the end. The difference? Hitting.
BYU was held to .227 hitting, only getting nine kills, while Hawaii hit .400 and made 17 kills.
With a dominating attack, the Rainbow Warriors were able to close out the opening set 25-21.
Hawaii was quicker to get momentum in the second set. The Rainbow Warriors went on a 6-0 run for a 16-8 advantage, forcing BYU to use up both of its timeouts midway through the set.
Hawaii’s Rado Parapunov later made three consecutive aces to put the set out of reach, even though the Cougars tried to inch back. The Rainbow Warriors went on to win the second set 25-19.
By the third set, BYU looked frazzled and couldn’t recoup, as the Cougars fell 25-16.
BYU was looking for its first national title since 2004. It was the Cougars’ fourth trip to the title match since 2013, but were unable to take down Hawaii.
Saturday’s match was the Rainbow Warriors’ fourth national championship match appearance and second straight. Hawaii won and later vacated the 2002 title.
This story will be updated.
from The Salt Lake Tribune https://ift.tt/3xZihmo
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