Box Score

HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team dropped its opening match in the 17^th Outrigger Hotels Invitational to No. 14 Ball State, 25-22, 25-20, 25-17, Thursday night, at the Stan Sheriff Center.

 

The fifth-ranked Warriors (0-1) hit .045 as a team with their top three hitters – Jonas Umlauft, Joshua Walker, and Steven Hunt – combining for 29 kills and 22 errors. Umlauft had a match-high 13 kills while Walker and Hunt each had eight kills. Freshman middle blocker Shane Welch tallied four blocks while junior libero Nick Castello had six digs in their UH debuts.

 

For the Cardinals (2-0), Greg Herceg had 10 kills while middle blocker Anders Nelson added eight kills with no errors in 12 attempts and nine blocks. BSU had 10 team blocks and hit .295 as a team.

 

In a back-and-forth first set, the Cardinals took an 18-15 lead after three straight errors by the Warriors. UH answered right back with Walker accounting for a pair of kills and a block. With the score tied at 21, the Cardinals scored four of the final five points, including consecutive blocks to close out the set.

 

BSU opened the second set by scoring the first five points forcing UH head coach Charlie Wade to call timeout. The Warriors pulled to within one on two separate occasions but the Cardinals went on a 6-1 run to take a 13-7 lead. UH closed to within 15-12 and 18-15 but the Cardinals pushed their lead back to five and went on to a 25-20 victory.

 

In the third set, the Warriors erased an early 10-7 deficit with four straight points for an 11-7 lead. But just as fast, the Cardinals answered with three straight, helped by consecutive hitting errors Welch and Hunt. With BSU leading 16-15, the Cardinals scored the next six points, which including five UH hitting errors for a 22-15 lead.

 

In the earlier match, UCLA rallied past Penn State, 23-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-18. Thomas Amberg led the Bruins with 12 kills. Penn State's Joe Sunder had a match-high 24 kills.

 

On Day 2 of the tournament, UCLA and Ball State meet at 4:00 p.m. followed by UH and Penn State at 7:00 p.m.