Box Score

HONOLULU - The University of Hawai`i men's volleyball team swept the Lewis Flyers tonight in a non-conference match by utilizing a huge serve in front of 3,114 fans at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The Warriors posted a season-high nine aces en route to a 30-18, 30-26, 30-23 straight-set victory. UH opposite Lauri Hakala recorded eight of the team's aces, setting a new UH single-match mark in the process. The old mark was seven held by Eyal Zimet at UC San Diego (2/13/01), Erik Pichel against Long Beach State (2/15/96) and Mark Presho versus Loyola Marymount (3/15/93).

No. 12 Hawai`i won its third-straight match, improving to 6-13, while Lewis falls to 14-8.

In Game 1, Lewis jumped out to a 7-4 lead, but UH came roaring back tallying five unanswered points to take a 9-7 lead. The two teams played sideout and that's when Hakala came alive. The senior then reeled off four-straight aces and five in his first seven serves as UH leaped out to a 17-8 lead and never looked back winning handily, 30-18.

Matt Vanzant broke a three all tie and then outscored the Flyers 8-3 to go up 12-6. UH would extend the margin to as many as nine (20-11), but the Flyers would mount a comeback. Lewis outscored UH 14-8 to pull to within three at 28-25. The two teams traded points before a Sean Carney kill ended it, 30-26.

The two teams played sideout for most of Game 3, with 14 ties and six lead changes. Then with UH leading 25-23, the Warriors turned it up winning the final five points to pull out the sweep, 30-23.

UH was led by Vanzant's 11 kills while Hakala added 10. Brian Beckwith, who set the first two games, ended with 22 assists while Carney handed out 15 in the third game. Ric Cervantes posted a match-high nine digs with Dio Dante and Matt Rawson contributing five blocks apiece. UH hit .261 collectively with 10.5 blocks.

Lewis was led by Jared Dayton's 11 kills and Drew Pickering's 10. Jordan Vikovic dished out 26 assists while Pickering added five blocks. The Flyers hit .128 as a team with 10.5 blocks.

The two teams complete the two-match non-league series Saturday at 7:05 p.m. at the SSC.

-UH-