Box Score
HONOLULU – The No. 13 University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team (1-2) fell to the No. 1 Penn State Nittany Lions (3-0) 30-22, 21-30, 30-22 and 30-23 in the final match of the Outrigger Hotels Invitational at the Stan Sheriff Center Saturday.
Hawai`i kept it tight early in the first set, forcing four early ties before a 4-0 PSU run put the Nittany Lions ahead 9-5. A 5-2 run by the Warriors pulled UH within a point at 17-16. But top-ranked Penn State had too much, pulling away to a 30-22.
The Warriors opened the second set with a 7-4 edge. UH kept that three-point lead until a 3-0 PSU run tied it at 9-9. But Hawai`i responded right away, scoring the next seven points to go ahead 16-9. After giving up the next three points, UH put up four in a row, going ahead 20-12. Penn State pulled it back to 25-19, the Warriors scored three-straight before siding out to a 30-21 second set victory.
The third set started out back-and-forth until the Nittany Lions scored six-straight points to go ahead 12-7. PSU got its lead to 17-10 before a three-point run, highlighted by two blocks by Hunt and a big pursuit-save by Carney, got UH back to 17-13. But Penn State had too much, closing out the third set 30-22.
Hawai`i jumped out to a 4-1 lead to start the fourth set, before Penn State tied it at 6-6. After five more ties, the Nittany Lions took control, scoring three-straight to go ahead 13-11. UH would get within a point on eight occasions, but never broke through as PSU scored nine of the last 11 points to take the fourth set 30-23.
The Warriors will next host Pepperdine for two matches on Jan. 15 and 16 to open the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation season at the Stan Sheriff Center.
OUTRIGGER HOTELS INVITATIONAL ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Dennis Del Valle, Penn State
Edgardo Goas, Penn State
Max Holt, Penn State
Robbie Klein, Ohio State
Max Lipsitz, Penn State
Joshua Walker, Hawai`i
Murphy Troy, USC (MOP)
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