Box Score

HONOLULU - No. 5 Hawai`i rallied past No. 13 Pacific tonight 25-30, 30-22, 30-18, 30-21 in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match at the Stan Sheriff Center.

With the victory, the Warriors keep alive their chance of hosting a quarterfinal match next Saturday, April 23. But it didn't come easy.

The Tigers came out quick and loose in the first game racing to an 11-4 lead. But UH rallied, tying the score at 15. The lead teetered to 19 until UOP went on a 6-0 run and played sideout the rest of the way to win, 30-25.

The Warriors shook it off in second game blitzing to leads of 10-4 and 19-12, before eventually evening the match at a game apiece, 30-22.

It wasn't much different in games three and four as the Warriors frustrated the Tigers.

In game three, UH led 18-14 before going on a 12-4 run to take a two-games-to-one advantage. In game four, it was much of the same as UH broke open a 15-13 lead as Matt Carere caught fire and slammed down six of his 10 kills in the match to help the Warriors win, 30-21.

Hawai`i was led offensively by Matt Bender's 15 kills. Pedro Azenha had a strong serving night picking up six aces, one shy of the UH single-match mark. He also added 11 kills.

Setter Brian Beckwith dished out 44 assists, while Alfred Reft posted 10 digs.

UOP was led by Brian Zodrow's match-high 18 kills, while setter Mitch Hazelett handed out 46 assists.

Hawai`i runs its record to 18-8 on the season and 14-7 in the MPSF. Pacific falls to 12-17 and 6-15 MPSF. The victory by UH keeps in fourth place, as teams two through four host next week's league playoffs. A win Saturday will guarantee UH one more home match this season.