HONOLULU - The University of Hawai`i men's volleyball team gave the fans a preview of the 2008 Warrior squad as they split an exhibition doubleheader with British Columbia tonight in front of a crowd of 403 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

In the first game, head coach Mike Wilton used newcomers and redshirts sprinkled with a few veterans to take the Thunderbirds in four games, 30-24, 31-29, 26-30, 30-17.

Steven Grgas and Jim Clar led the way for the Warriors posting identical hitting numbers. Each pounded down 16 kills while sporting a .387 hitting percentage. Ernie Vidinha added 13 kills to the cause.

Setter Nejc Zemljak dished out a game-high 50 assists while middle blocker Brennon Dyer had five blocks.

BC was led by Robert Bennett who had 15 kills while hitting at a .407 clip. Mike Proudfoot added 11 kills.

UH outhit (.353 to .205) and outblocked (11.0 to 6.0) BC in the match.

In the feature match, BC turned the tables to win in four. UH opened with a 31-29 win in Game 1, but the T-Birds bounced back to take the next three games by the scores of 30-25, 31-29 and 30-24.

Matt Vanzant led the way in Game 2 for UH pounding down 16 kills. Clar was the only other Warrior in double digits with 10 kills.

Setter Sean Carney handed out 42 assists while middle blocker Matt Rawson added eight blocks.

The T-Birds were led by the trio of Andrew Bonner (15 kills), Steve Gotch (15) and Matt LeBourdais (13). Setter Jared Krause posted 57 assists while Joe Cordonier led the way with four blocks.

The two teams complete the four-game exhibition series Saturday night with another doubleheader beginning at 4:00 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Game 1 Box

Game 2 Box

-UH-