Sakanoko switched it up to throw Tritons off

IRVINE, Calif. — After serving the ball out five times in Hawaii’s win over UC San Diego on Friday, Louis Sakanoko decided to switch things up.

In baseball terms, he went with a changeup from the service line, deciding to try a jump float early in the fourth set of the Rainbow Warriors’ 25-19, 19-25, 25-20, 25-13 win over the Tritons in the semifinals of the Outrigger Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship at Bren Events Center.

A UC San Diego service error gave the ’Bows a 7-6 lead in the fourth set, sending Sakanoko behind the service line.

The 6-foot-5 junior outside hitter from Paris, who famously tied the school record with nine aces in his second match wearing a UH uniform two years ago, caught the Tritons off guard with a quick lollipop over the net.

He did it again with his next serve that resulted in the ace.

By the time his rotation was over, he had successfully served 11 consecutive floaters, Hawaii was up double digits, and a spot in the Big West final was just a few points away.

“Honestly, I’ve been not serving good this game so I also have to change something,” Sakanoko said. “If it doesn’t work, pop a float serve. I’ve been doing that all season. It’s always good.”

Sakanoko has indeed mixed up his serving all season, rotating between heaters and slow lollipops during the same turn, but 11 consecutive offspeed swings in a row?

“It is,” Sakanoko said with a laugh when asked if it is hard not to dial up a fast one at some point. “At the same time, I do what is best for the team. I don’t think about what I want to do. Of course if I just think about myself, I’d rip the serve as hard as a I can every single time, but of course I can’t do that. Just trying to be a little smart.”

UH finished with five aces against the Tritons to 13 service errors.

Hawaii entered the tournament second in service aces per set behind Long Beach State.

The aces aren’t always as important for the ’Bows as keeping serves in to allow their top-ranked offense and steady defense to go to work.

“Really the fourth set where Louis has the situational awareness to come back and you start popping float serves in and taking the bic hitter out, kind of simplifying and making their offense more predictable and giving us a chance to defend kind of gave us a nice cushion,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said.

Todd goes down in first set

UH sophomore middle blocker Justin Todd turned to try to pass a ball with his back to the net and fell to the ground late in the first set with a lower leg injury.

Todd immediately was met by a trainer as he sat on the court reaching for his left foot.

Eventually, he had to be carried off to the Hawaii bench by two of his teammates without putting any weight on his leg.

He did not return.

Wade didn’t know the extent of the injury after the match but wasn’t optimistic he would be available for tonight’s match against Long Beach State.