Box Score

HONOLULU - The 10th-ranked University of Hawai`i Warrior volleyball team clinched a spot in the upcoming Mountain Pacific Sports Federation playoffs with a 30-22, 30-23, 30-22 win over Stanford tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center in front of 3,822 fans.

With the victory, UH improved to 12-13 overall and 10-11 in the MPSF. The Cardinal fell to 3-24 and 2-19.

UH has assured itself of at least a seventh seed. If the Warriors knock off Stanford Saturday night, UH will climb into the playoffs as the No. 6 seed and travel to UC Irvine April 21.

The first set saw 10 ties and three lead changes before the Warriors broke a 13 all tie by reeling off four-straight points and eventually won by eight, 30-22.

In the second set, the team were tied nine times with six lead changes before Lauri Hakala's kill gave UH a two-point lead, 23-21. UH won eight of the final 10 points to take a 2-0 advantage with a 30-23 set victory.

The Warriors jumped out to a 6-3 lead and maintained its three point cushion up until 10-7. Then two Stanford attack errors sandwiched a Dio Dante ace and UH would streak out to a 10-point lead, 19-9, and eventually win by eight, 30-22.

Hakala led the offensive attack for UH slamming down a match-high 19 kills while hitting .341. Dante added eight kills and hit .727 with seven blocks. As a team, UH hit .336 collectively with 42 digs and 11.5 blocks.

The Cardinal were led by Evan Romero's 17 kills as Stanford hit .104 with 39 digs and 6.0 blocks.

The two teams end the regular season Saturday at 7:00 p.m. at the SSC.

-UH-