Box Score

HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team met with a spirited Loyola-Chicago team that hit an impressive .324 to hand the Warriors a season-opening loss for the first time since the 1990 campaign, despite a match-high 29 kills from reigning AVCA National Player of the Year Costas Theocharidis.

The Ramblers hit well from the first serve of the evening, out-hitting the Warriors, .344-to-.161 in the opening game to win, 30-28. Theocharidis hit .700 in the opener, flooring seven kills in 10 attempts, while Loyola-Chicago's Dan Haas answered with five kills at a .833 clip to push the Ramblers to the game one win.

With Hawai'i down 21-15 in game two, coach Mike Wilton inserted redshirt freshman setter Daniel Rasay to jump-start the attack and it worked, as the Warriors outscored the Ramblers, 12-to-7 after his entrance. The substitution also helped Hawai'i finish the set with a .350 hitting percentage. But a .421 Loyola-Chicago hitting percentage nullified Rasay's spark, as the Ramblers took game two, 30-27.

Game three saw the Warriors race out of the intermission to run-off seven unanswered points and seize the momentum en route to the 30-25 victory. The evening's final game saw Loyola rebound to turn back the Warriors 30-26 and come away with the win.

Hawai'i senior All-American middle Dejan Miladinovic hit .611, with 11 kills and no errors, while Eyal Zimet chipped-in 14 kills in the losing effort. Sophomore setter Kimo Tuyay returned during game four and led the Warriors with 33 assists. Rasay dished-out 32 assists on the match.

Loyola-Chicago's Brad Stoub (26 kills, .311 pct.) and Haas (15 kills, .565 pct.) paced the Ramblers by combining for 41 kills in the win.

The Warriors and Ramblers complete their series with another match tomorrow night, at 7:00 p.m. in the Stan Sheriff Center.