Box Score

HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team dropped its Mountain Pacific Sports Federation season-opening series with Pepperdine following a 30-27, 30-22, 27-30, 30-26 loss, Friday at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Warriors (1-4, 0-2 MPSF) lost both matches to the third-ranked Waves, after falling in four on Thursday.

 

Freshman Steven Hunt led the way with a match-high 24 kills, the most in his short five-match career. He also added seven digs and seven blocks. UH's middle blockers – Steven Grgas and Matt Rawson – both posted career-highs in kills. Grgas pounded 13 kills on 18 swings with no hitting errors for a .722 hitting percentage. Rawson slammed down 10 kills. Setter Sean Carney directed a balanced Warrior attack with 56 assists and 13 digs.

 

Pepperdine was nearly unstoppable on Friday hitting .419 for the match. For the second straight night, Paul Carroll led the Waves (3-0, 2-0) with 23 kills and 10 digs while Matt McKee added 21 kills and 10 digs.

 

After trading sideouts for much of Game 1, the Waves jumped ahead 24-21 on a Brennon Dyer hitting error and Sean Pedersen ace. The Warriors closed to within 26-25 on consecutive points on a triple block of Carroll and Gus Tuaniga overpass. But Pepperdine was able to side-out and close out the game, 30-27.

 

UH jumped on Pepperdine early in Game 2 with five straight points to take a 14-9 lead. The Waves fought back and re-took the lead at 20-17. The Waves went on a 7-1 run, including five straight points, mostly with the help of several Warrior hitting errors. Pepperdine extended its lead to 26-20 and cruised to a 30-22 win.

 

Trailing 7-2 in Game 3, the Warriors rallied to tie it at 11. UH trailed until stuffing Carroll at 20-20, for the Waves' first hitting error of the set. The Warriors extended their lead to 26-23 following consecutive kills by Grgas and Tuaniga. At game point, Carroll hit long extending the match.

 

In Game 4, the Waves started out strong again building leads of 6-3 and 13-9. The Warriors rallied with four straight points to tie it at 13 but Pepperdine regroup and built its lead to five at 22-17. At match point, the Warriors saved four points to creep to within 29-26. The Waves ended it on Carney's service error.

 

The Warriors will next travel to Brigham Young for a two-match series, Jan. 22-23 in Provo, Utah.