No. 5 men's volleyball falls in 4 sets to No. 4 Hawaii

Any time two top five teams meet up in the regular season, there is bound to be fireworks, especially if those teams happen to be rivals.

This was the case with No. 5 BYU and No. 4 Hawaii.

All signs pointed towards revenge in Saturday’s night match. In front of a sellout crowd of 5,387, BYU had one mission on its mind — win. Hawaii’s sole purpose, silence the Cougars. The latter ended up victorious, 25-18, 25-22, 22-25, 25-22.

After an instant classic in Friday’s matchup, ending in a five-set thriller that led to Hawaii besting BYU 22-20, both teams entered Saturday night with a new energy to win.

Emotions were high through the weekend, with both teams knowing how big a win against a top five opponent would be. Better yet, at least one win against a rival.

The energy in the building was palpable and was it was apparent that the players felt it at the start, as both teams began the match with multiple errors.

The nerves settled quickly for the Rainbow Warriors and it was back to business, handling the crowd and Cougars with relative ease through two sets.

“All the credit to Hawaii, they were the better team out the gates,” said BYU head coach, Shawn Olmstead.

But the cardiac Cougars came alive. A simple 3-0 run in the third set by BYU gave the itching crowd an excuse to erupt for the first time all night.

Talking about the crowd, Holmstead said, “They didn’t give up on our guys, especially after the first two sets … maybe it was the crowd’s energy that brought them back to life.”

The crowd’s energy seemed to instantly energize the Cougars, something they had been searching for all night. Like a symbiotic relationship, both the crowd and BYU fed off each other until there was not a quiet second in the Smith Fieldhouse.

“I hope (the fans) see the potential in these guys.” said Olmstead.

BYU star Keoni Thiim wanted nothing more than a win against his former team. It was apparent by his facial expressions throughout Saturday night that this game meant more to him than any other game.

After every kill, Thiim was yelling to the crowd and doing all he could to fire up his teammates.

“That’s always how I’ve kinda been," Thiim said. "All these people come out here to get a show and I love doing it, putting it on for them.”

After a slow start, Keoni Thiim came alive in the third set. He totaled five kills, more than he had in the first two sets combined. Thiim ended with 14 kills and an ace to lead the Cougars.

After a key win in the third set, the Cougars had used up all that was left in the comeback tank. Both teams used all they had to outplay one another and Hawaii got the best of them.

Unfortunately for BYU, falling behind two sets early became costly in the efforts to revenge Friday night.

“It ain’t gonna be easy," said Thiim. “If we’re going to have to be a team that’s going to scratch and claw our that’s what we’re gonna do.”

Reflecting on the matchup with Hawaii, Olmstead said, “We can play and we can win… I sure hope that’s motivating in and of itself.

“The season is literally just beginning and we’ve got a good team, and we knew January was going to be a dogfight," he added.

After now losing the last four games, the Cougars will have a week to prepare to get back on track as they host UC Santa Barbara in the Smith Fieldhouse Feb. 7-8.