Box Score
HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball dropped its third straight match in the Outrigger Hotels Invitational, falling to UCLA, 25-19, 25-14, 25-21, Saturday night, on the final day of the tournament at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The Warriors (0-3) finished winless in the tournament for just the second time (0-2 in 2007) and had never lost three matches in the round-robin format. Hawai'i has never started the season 0-3 since the program became a varsity sport in 1979.
Hawai'i was without the services of All-American
Jonas Umlauft, who suffered from an illness. The Warriors had no answer for the loss, using a different lineup in each set.
Joshua Walker led the way with seven kills while
Steven Hunt and
Brennon Dyer each had six.
UCLA (5-1) captured the tournament title with three wins over Penn State, Ball State, and UH. Weston Dunlap had a match-high 10 kills and hit .643 and Jeremy Casebeer added nine kills in earning all-tournament team honors for the Bruins.
The Bruins were in cruise control in the first set, jumping out to a 15-9 lead. The Warriors got as close as 19-15 and 23-19 before the Bruins closed out the set with kills by Gonzalo Quiroga and Casebeer.
UCLA dominated the second set, taking an 8-4 lead with five unanswered points. The Bruins extended their lead to 16-9 with another five-point spurt and built its largest lead at 22-11 with their third 5-0 run of the set.
In the final set, UH took the early at 6-3 before the Bruins reeled off six straight, helped by three Warrior hitting errors. UCLA would not look back, extending its lead to 17-11 en route to a 25-21 victory.
The all-tournament team was comprised of Umlauft, Ball State's Dominic Spadavecchio, Casebeer and Dunlop, and Penn State's Joe Sunder, Edgardo Goas, and Dennis Del Valle. Sunder was tourney's Most Outstanding Player.
The Warriors will open Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play by hosting defending national champion Stanford, Friday, Jan, 21 and Sunday, Jan. 23 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
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