Box Score

HONOLULU - Warrior seniors Tony Ching and Costas Theocharidis combined for 41 kills to lead a regrouped, re-vamped, and re-energized Hawaii unit to a straight set sweep of No. 8 Cal State Northridge, 32-30, 30-20, 30-28, to avenge their loss to the Matadors the previous night.

Hawaii coach Mike Wilton shook up his lineup in the series finale, starting captain and starting outside hitter Eyal Zimet at libero and filling his spot with freshman Perdo Azenha. The result was a Warrior squad that exhibited improved ball control, resulting in a .486 team attack percentage. Zimet passed well and registered four digs while committing no service reception errors, while Azenha posted 10 kills.

Ching set a new career-high with his match-high 21 kills, hitting a blistering .667 with just one error in 30 attempts. Theocharidis, who set a new Hawaii career service aces record with his 101st, finished with 20 kills on a .533 attack percentage to move within 138 kills of becoming the first Warrior to reach the 2,000 kill plateau.

The Warriors took a hard fought game one behind a combined 18 kills from seniors Theocharidis and Ching . Theocharidis took the Warriors on his back out of the gates, registering four of Hawaii's first six points to give his squad a 6-4 lead. Ching took over from there, posting eight kills down the stretch as Hawaii outlasted the Matadors in extra points, 32-30. Theocharidis led all attackers, putting-down 10 kills with just one error in 13 total swings for a .692 attack percentage. Both teams hit well in game one, with the Warriors out slugging CSUN, .500 to .439.

Hawaii used their net defense to jump out to an early lead in the second game, notching three of their first 10 points on blocks, after not posting a single block in game one. It was Ching leading the Warrior offense again in game two, as the senior from Honolulu ripped six more kills to enter double digits for the second consecutive evening. The Warriors turned up the heat a notch in the second stanza, hitting .533 with just three errors in 30 total attempts.

The third game saw Ching and Theocharidis one and for all, as the duo scored all of Hawaii's final five points to rally the Warriors to a come from behind run in the third game. With the Warriors trailing 24-26, Theocharidis made good on back-to-back kill attempts to draw Hawaii even at 26. Ching and junior middle Joshua Stanhiser got together on a double block to give Hawaii the lead and drive Northridge to a timeout. A CSUN attack error and kills by Ching and Theocharidis provided the remainder of the scoring for the national champs.

The "Men of War" continue their MPSF schedule this coming weekend when they travel to Provo, Utah to meet with Brigham Young.