Box Score

HONOLULU - The 12th-ranked University of Hawai`i men's volleyball team knocked off No. 14 USC tonight in four sets, snapping a seven-match losing streak in front of 3,156 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The Warriors, who had lost seven-straight including five-consecutive home losses, won 24-30, 31-29, 30-27, 30-24 to break the streak before it heads to Provo, Utah, next week to battle Mountain Pacific Sports Federation foe, Brigham Young.

It wasn't pretty, but UH hit .232 on the night while outblocking (15.5 to 12.5) and out digging (44 to 43) the Trojans.

Hawai`i improves to 3-9 overall and 3-7 in the MPSF, while USC falls to 4-9 and 3-7.

The Trojans came out strong in the first set jumping out to leads of 3-0 and increased it to 10-4 before the Warriors rallied to close to 17-13. But that was as close as they would get as USC increased their lead to 29-22 before closing it out, 30-24.

In Game 2, UH caught fire early streaking out to leads of 4-1 and 8-3 before USC clawed its way back into the set to tie it at 17. The set teetered until 29 all when UH got a kill from Matt Vanzant and a USC hitting error to tie the match at a game apiece with a 31-29 win.

The turning point in the match came in the third set with USC leading 5-2. The Trojans leading attacker Juan Figueroa then committed a hitting error and came down wrong on his ankle and never returned in the match.

USC, however, kept the pressure on UH winning five of the next eight points to lead 10-5. That is when UH mounted its comeback. The Warriors would then go on a 14-9 run to tie it at 19. The teams played side out until UH finally took its first lead of the set at 23-22 on Jim Clar's kill. UH increased its lead to 26-24 on a hitting error by USC. But the Trojans played side out until 28-27 when UH took advantage of a USC service error and then Clar capped it with a kill, 30-27.

In Game 4, UH took a 5-4 lead on a Clar kill and never relinquished the lead, finishing off the match, 30-24.

Clar led the way for the Warriors with a match-high 20 kills. Jacob Schkud and Vanzant each added 13. Setter Brian Beckwith handed out 52 kills, while Matt Rawson posted a team-high seven blocks.

USC was led by C.J. Schellenberg's 19 kills, while Figueroa and Matt Anderson contributed 11 and 10, respectively.

Hawai`i heads to the road next week for two MPSF matches at BYU, Feb. 23-24.

-UH-