National men’s volleyballer Daynte Stewart and Orkulljunga went under to Hylte Halmstad in straight sets for their second time in four days to fall to 0-2 in their Sweden The Elitserien Men’s Volleyball League best-of-five semifinals on Tuesday.
Playing at their Orkelljunga Forum in Orkelljuna, Stewart and his teammates were hopeful of drawing level in the series after losing the opener.
However, it was not to be as Hylte Halmstad silenced the home crowd with a polished 25-17, 25-19, 25-18 win behind the performances of Jirka Toman, Johan Gruvaeus and Sebastien Martinez, who tallied 15, 12 and ten points respectively.
The pair of Teodor Nilsson and Bodhan Mazenko chipped in with seven points each for Hylte Halmstad, who can seal the series win and a spot in the final with a win in Game Three on Friday, April 3, on their home court.
Stewart was the lone player to get in double-figures with 14 points, while Josiah Griffiths got nine, Albin Fransson got seven, and Tyler Nix had a quiet outing with four points.
On Saturday, in the opening match of the series at Halmstad Arena, Halmstad, Sweden, host Hylte Halmstad, winners of three of the past four championship crowns, won 25-18, 25-22, 25-23 with Toman scoring 14, Gruvaeus 12, and Martinez 11.
Mazenko also chipped in with nine points for the regular-season table-toppers Hylte Halmstad, who dominated their opponents on spikes won 46-33 and held the narrow edge on service aces as well, 4-2, while also committing two fewer errors, 20-22.
To their credit, Stewart and Orkelljunga kept the contest close, with Nix leading their attack with 12 points, while the T&T international tallied ten and Fransson nine in the loss.
Last week, Stewart came up big for four-time league winners Orkulljunga with a match-high 21 points in their four-set win over Sollentuna, clinching their best-of-five quarterfinal series at 3-2 at Satelliten Arena in Sollentuna, Sweden.
For Orkelljunga, Nix chipped in with 17 points and Josiah Griffith 13, while Fransson and Andreas Rude added eight and six points, respectively, in their come-from-behind 21-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-23 triumph.
This was after Stewart also starred for Orkelljunga with a match-high 28 points in a must-win Game Four, while Nix added 20 and Griffiths 17 in their 25-18, 22-25, 31-29, 28-26 win, which evened the series at 2-2.
In the other quarterfinal series, which went the full distance, Habo also won 3-2 over Sodertelge after a 25-12, 25-23, 23-25, 25-23 win in their decider to set up a meeting with Floby, who won their series against Vingaaker, 3-0.
Former T&T Volleyball Federation (TTVF) “Player of the Year” award recipient, Stewart was named to the “Team of the Year’ in the Swedish League after he tallied 302 points, the fourth best overall in the league at 4.14 points per set, which ranked tenth, and was highlighted by 30 service aces, which ranked second amongst all players.
On the defensive end, Stewart, who was awarded the “Best Scorer” accolade at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in 2023, tallied 32 blocks, all while securing six “Most Valuable Player” of the match awards.
