Box Score

HONOLULU - The 14th ranked University of Hawai`i men's volleyball team blocked its way past No. 8 Cal State Northridge tonight in straight sets 30-27, 31-29, 30-26 in front of 3,096 fans at the Stan Sheriff Center.

With the victory, Hawai`i improves its overall record to 5-14 and 5-11 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Cal State Northridge falls to 13-11 and 7-8.

In set one, UH fell behind 4-3 and by as many as seven (11-4) before finally tying the Matadors at 19. CSUN then sprinted out to a 26-23 advantage before UH went on a 7-1 run to close it out, 30-27.

A CSUN kill by James Lischer gave the Matadors a 10-9 advantage in set two. CSUN would extend that margin to 25-20 before UH mounted another monumental comeback. UH pulled to within 29-27 and then stavved off two set points to pull even at 29. Two-straight Matador attack errors gave UH the second set, 31-29. UH smothered the Matador hitters in the second recording eight blocks.

A Dio Dante ace in set three gave UH a 5-4 lead and raced out to lead by as many as eight (20-12). CSUN rallied to pull to within two (26-24), but UH won four of the next six points and ended the match on a CSUN service error, 30-26.

The Warriors posted 17.5 blocks on the night, the most by UH in a three-set match this season. Matt Rawson led the way with eight blocks followed by Brian Beckwith's seven and Dante's six. UH, despite hitting only .195 on the night, got a match-high 15 kills from Lauri Hakala with Matt Vanzant adding 11.

The Matadors hit .164 collectively led by the trio of attackers Lischer (14 kills), Dan Rhodes (12) and Isaac Kneubuhl (10).

Hawai`i completes its six-match homestand next week when visiting Lewis comes to town for a nonconference two-match series March 23-24 at the SSC. Both start times are 7:05 p.m.

-UH-