Box Score

PROVO, Utah – The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team's struggles in Provo continued as ninth-ranked Brigham Young won in four sets, 30-23, 30-23, 25-30, 30-22, Thursday, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match at Smith Fieldhouse. The Warriors (1-5, 0-3 MPSF) dropped their fifth consecutive match on the year and their fifth straight in Provo, where they are 3-16 all-time.

 

For the second straight match, UH was led by freshman Steven Hunt, who tallied 19 kills on 44 percent hitting. Hunt was the only Warrior in double figures and also had six digs. Middle blocker Steven Grgas added nine kills on 12 swings and for the second straight match did not record a hitting error. Fellow middle blocker Matt Rawson had eight kills and three blocks.

 

The Warriors rotated their third outside hitter position between starter Brennon Dyer, Joshua Walker and Jim Clar, who saw his first action of the season. Neither was impressive but Walker pounded nine kills off the bench and Clar tallied three in six attempts.

 

Surprisingly as a team, the Warriors hit .365 for the match including .485 in the third set and a blistering .533 in Game 4. However, the Cougars (3-3, 1-0) were equally as productive, hitting .427 as a team, and were unstoppable in the deciding set with a .667 percentage.

 

BYU was led by Mat Taylor's 22 kills while Kevin Sagers hit .625 on 21 kills. Andrew Stewart nearly hit the 20-kill mark with 19.

 

In their only win, Hunt and the Warriors led Set 3 from start to finish. The Cougars committed nine unforced errors in the set and Hunt pounded down seven in the 30-25 win.

 

BYU jumped out to an early lead in the Game 4, led 15-10 at the halfway point and did not let the Warriors get closer than four the rest of the way.

 

The teams play again on Friday in the rematch at the Smith Fieldhouse. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m. MST (4:00 p.m. HST) and the match can be seen on the web at www.byu.tv.