Box Score

MALIBU, Calif. - The No. 6 Hawai`i men's volleyball team put a scare in No. 1 Pepperdine tonight, but the Waves outlasted the Warriors in five - 24-30, 30-27, 30-26, 19-30, 8-15 - before 1,042 fans at the Firestone Fieldhouse.

Pepperdine (7-1, 7-1 MPSF) took Game 1, 30-24. The teams were tied at five before the Waves reeled off three-straight points to take an 8-5 lead. UH pulled to 14-12, but Pepperdine again would go on a mini run to lead by as many as six, before closing out the first game on a Lauri Hakala service error.

Hawai`i (4-4, 2-3 MPSF) got off to a better start in Game 2. Outside hitter Matt Carere got untracked. Carere slammed down seven of his 17 kills, while Delgado put down three-straight kills at 21-17 to give UH its largest lead of the game, seven. Pepperdine, however, would not go away and closed to within two at 24-22, but the Warriors would regroup and go on to a 30-27 victory to even the match at a game apiece.

Game 3 saw nine ties and nine lead changes. UH took an early 2-1 lead and finally took the lead for good at 12-11, stretching it to 27-20 before ending it, 30-26, to go up two games to one.

Pepperdine tied it at two games each with a convincing 30-19 win. It was tight early, but the Waves took a 7-6 lead and extended it to as many as 11 as the Warriors hit only .107 while the Waves hit at a .552 clip in the game.

Pepperdine stayed hot in Game 5. After it was tied at three, the Waves rattled off five-straight points to take an 8-3 advantage and extended it to seven until closing out the match, 15-8.

Hawai`i hit .287 for the match compared to Pepperdine's .433. But it was poor hitting games four and five that did in UH. The Warriors hit .107 in Game 4 and .000 in Game 5. Delgado led the Warriors with 19 kills.

The two teams meet again Friday night (5 p.m. HST). No radio nor TV for the match.