Box Score

LONG BEACH, Calif. - Outside hitter Pedro Azenha slammed down a match-high 16 kills in pacing the No. 6 ranked Hawai`i volleyball team to a three-game sweep at No. 4 Long Beach State tonight at the Walter Pyramid.

The Warriors (17-8, 13-7 MPSF) kicked some sand back in the faces of the 49ers (18-9, 12-8 MPSF) just 24 hours after LBSU dusted UH in a very quick three games on CSTV.

In front of 1,089 fans, UH was about as hot offensively as they have been all season. UH's .416 team hitting percentage was its second biggest outburst of the year, behind the .506 mark hit at UC San Diego on March 23.

Individually, it was a team-effort tonight. Matt Carere, who started just for the sixth time this season, posted nine kills for a .429 hitting percentage. His outside counterpart Matt Bender hit .364 with nine kills. Furthermore, middle blocker Dio Dante had a break-out match hitting for a .667 clip downing eight kills in 12 swings. Dante and Bender formed a human wall at the net combining for 15 blocks between them.

Game one ended on back-to-back blocks by Azenha, coupled with a .351 hitting percentage, gave Hawai`i the 31-29 opening game victory. Bender and Dante both recorded five kills each in the set for UH. LBSU's Sliti notched six kills. Hawai`i nlocked a 10-10 tie with a 6-2 run to take a 16-12 lead after a Kyle Klinger service ace. UH maintained a four-point cushion at 24-20 after a Dante kill. Long Beach State responded with a 4-0 run of its own to tie the set at 24-24 after a Sliti kill. The 49ers reached game point (29-28) after a Hawai`i service error. The Warriors fought off game point with three straight points, including the blocks from Azenha, to win the stanza.

Hawai`i kept its hot hitting in the second set posting a .636 average (15-1-22) en route to the 30-22 game two victory. Azenha registered six more kills in the frame. The Warriors once again unlocked a 10-10 tie with an 8-4 run, capped off by a Carere service ace, to take an 18-14 lead. Hawai`i pushed its lead to 24-18 after a Carere kill, and closed out the game with an Azenha kill. The 49ers hit .345 for the set (17-7-29), but was out-blocked by UH, 6-1.

The Warriors completed the three-game sweep with a 30-28 win in the third game. UH jumped out to a 10-7 lead, but LBSU roared back going on a 9-5 run to take a 16-15 lead. The Warriors finally tied it at 23 apiece before making one big 4-1 run to provide the space they needed to close out the match.

Hawai`i returns home for its final two regular-season matches of the spring next Friday, April 15, and Saturday, April 16, at the Stan Sheriff Center against Pacific. Both matches start at 7 p.m.