Box Score

HONOLULU - No. 6 Hawai`i took over third place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation with a four-game victory over No. 5 UC Santa Barbara tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The Warriors got a balanced attack from its middle-hitters as Kyle Klinger posted a .611 average with 13 kills and Maulia La Barre added 10 while hitting at a .500 clip.

UH came out of the gate on fire jumping out to a 17-8 and then cruising to a 30-23 victory. Klinger was the spark that lit the fire. He was perfect on all six of his swings while snuffing three attacks.

Game two was all UCSB as the Gauchos hit a sizzling .410 collectively as the ever-tough Evan Patak collected 10 of his game-high 25 kills in the second game.

Following the break, UH found its groove slamming down 20 kills in game three en route to a 30-20 win. UH had its best hitting percentage in game three recording a .385 average.

In game four, UH again got hot early and led 14-11 before the media timeout. But the Gauchos went on a 9-3 run and led 20-17 and maintained it until 24-21. That is when UH reached down for a little extra. The Warriors would then go on a 9-4 run to close out the match 30-28 in game four.

Outside hitter Pedro Azenha led UH with 16 kills as setter Brian Beckwith gave a gritty performance dishing out 53 assists while adding five blocks.

Hawai`i improved to 16-6 overall and 12-5 in the MPSF. UCSB fell to 13-10 and 11-6. The two teams complete the two-match series Saturday at 7 p.m. at the SSC.