Box Score

HONOLULU - Outside hitters Lauri Hakala and Matt Carere contributed 15 kills apiece in leading No. 7 Hawai`i to a three-game sweep of No. 11 Penn State on the opening night of the 12th Outrigger Hotels & Resorts Invitational.

The Warriors (2-1, 1-0 Outrigger) blitzed the Nittany Lions (1-2, 0-1) in the first game, 30-19, behind the hot hand of Jose Delgado, who picked up seven of his 10 kills in the match in Game 1.

In Game 2, Carere and Hakala began to catch fire. Carere notched six kills, while Hakala added four as UH raced out to a 15-10 advantage at the midway point before winning by nine, 30-21.

UH then took the match winning game three, 34-32, as head coach Mike Wilton tweaked his lineup somewhat giving outside hitter Eric Kalima and backup setter Sean Carney some work.

In game three, UH fell behind 19-16 before rallying and tying it up at 22. But then Penn State went up by two, at 26-24. However, UH then rattled off three straight points on a Hakala kill, a PSU hitting error, and a service ace by Kalima. The two teams seesawed back and forth before Hakala closed out the match with his 15th kill.

The Warriors take on Ohio State (6-0, 1-0 Outrigger) Thursday night at 7 p.m. The No. 9 Buckeyes upset No. 5 UCLA today in the earlier match today in three.