Box Score

MALIBU, Calif. - After nearly pulling off the upset last night, No. 6-ranked Hawai`i did it one better tonight sweeping top ranked Pepperdine in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match in front of 2,218 fans at the Firestone Fieldhouse.

Pepperdine jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in Game 1 before Hawai`i went on a 16-6 run to take command of the game and eventually win, 30-26.

UH kept the heat on in Game 2 streaking to leads of 3-0 and 5-1 before the Waves closed the gap to 7-5. But that would be as close as Peppedine would get as the Warriors ripped off four straight points on kills by Matt Carere, Lauri Hakala, and Jose Delgado. A Carere ace made it 11-7, and UH never looked back handing Pepperdine its worst deficit in a game this year, 30-20.

Game 3 saw seven ties and eight lead changes before Hawai`i took the lead for good at 8-7 on an attack error by Pepperdine's Jon Grobe. UH went on mini runs of five and three to lead 20-12. The Waves pulled to with six at 25-19, but UH rattled off four straight points and finally closed out the match, 30-21.

Delgado led the Warriors with 16 kills, followed by Hakala's 15 and Carere's 10. Setter Brian Beckwith dished out 42 assists, while libero Alfred Reft posted 11 digs. Pepperdine was led by Andy Hein's eight kills.

Hawai`i improves to 5-4 overall and 3-3 in MPSF play, while Pepperdine falls to 7-2 overall and in league action.

UH returns to Honolulu to host Long Beach State Feb. 16-17 at the Stan Sheriff Center with the matches to begin at 7:00 p.m.