HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team dropped a highly competitive straight-set decision to sixth-ranked UC Santa Barbara, Friday night, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match at the Stan Sheriff Center. Set scores were 25-22, 25-23, 25-23.

 

The Warriors (3-6, 3-3 MPSF) faltered at the end of each set in a match that could easily have been a three-set win. UCSB came up big at the end, scoring three straight to win Set 1, two straight in Set 2, and the final two points in the final set.

 

UCSB (6-5, 4-4) held UH All-American opposite Jonas Umlauft in check. The sophomore tied for team-high honors with 11 kills but committed 10 errors in 30 attempts. Joshua Walker had 11 kills, five digs, and four blocks while Steven Hunt posted 10 kills and five blocks. As a team, UH hit .213, including a dismal .059 in Set 1.

 

Jeff Menzel led the Gauchos with 15 kills on .448 hitting.

 

UCSB trailed for much of Set 1 before taking a 20-19 lead after a UH hitting error. The teams traded side-outs until the Warriors committed three straight errors to close out the set.

 

UCSB raced out to a 7-3 lead in Set 2 and held a 15-11 lead at the media timeout. Down 22-18, the Warriors tied it with four straight points but the Gauchos sided-out and closed out the set with an ace by Menzel.

 

The teams traded leads four times in Set 3 before the Warriors fell behind 16-14 and played catch-up the rest of the way. UH tied it five times until 23-all when Dylan Davis put down a kill setting up match point and Walker was stuffed by a Gaucho double block of Vince Devany and Cullen Irons.

 

The Warriors continue their homestand by hosting Cal Baptist for a two-match non-conference series Friday, Feb. 11 at the Stan Sheriff Center and Saturday, Feb. 12, at Maui's War Memorial Gym.