Box Score

HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team fell behind early in all three sets in dropping its second straight match to No. 2 UC Irvine, Sunday, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match at the Stan Sheriff Center. Set scores were 25-17, 25-19, and 25-21.
 
The 12^th-ranked Warriors (6-7, 3-5 MPSF) struggled offensively, hitting a season-low .130 after recording a .304 clip two nights earlier against the Anteaters in a four-set loss. Senior outside hitter Steven Hunt led UH with eight kills but had nine errors in 31 swings. Freshman Stanley Hinkle started the third set and finished with five kills in six attempts.
 
Middle blocker Nick West, a transfer from UC Irvine, was in on all four of the team's blocks but could only muster two kills in 10 swings. Taylor Averill, another UCI transfer, had three kills and two digs.
 
UCI (9-2, 4-2) hit .365 as a team while Kevin Tillie led the way with 10 kills and one error in 14 swings. All-American Carson Clark also had 10 kills along with three aces while Dan McDonnell had seven kills, three aces, and three blocks.
 
The Anteaters seized control of Set 1 by scoring six straight with Dan McDonnell at the service line for an 8-3 lead. McDonnell served two of his aces during that run and the Warriors could not recover, trailing by as much as 19-10.
 
UCI again got off to a fast start in Set 2, surging ahead 8-4. The Anteaters led 15-9 before the Warriors closed to within two at 16-12 with the help of two UCI hitting errors and a pair of kills by Marks.  UH pulled to within 19-18 after consecutive kills by Hunt but a UH service error followed by another McDonnell ace put UCI on top 21-18.
 
The Warriors tinkered with their line-up in Set 3, starting Hinkle at opposite and Brook Sedore at outside hitter. The Anteaters scored five straight to take a 6-3 advantage and extended their lead to 16-11 at the midway point.  Irvine led by as much as nine at 22-13 before the Warriors closed to within 24-21 with a five-point run but Tillie ended it with his 10^th kill.
 
The Warriors continue their three-week homestand with a two-match MPSF series against UCLA, Friday, Feb. 17 and Saturday, Feb. 18.