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VIDEO: Game Recap (courtesy of Ka Leo)

HONOLULU – The 12^th-ranked University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team saw its four-match home win streak come to an end in a pivotal Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match against No. 8 UC Santa Barbara, Friday at the Stan Sheriff Center. Set scores were 25-23, 25-21, 18-25, 25-22.
 
The Warriors (9-14, 8-13 MPSF) and Gauchos (13-12, 9-10) are battling to finish in the top eight of the league standings in order to qualify for the MPSF Tournament.
 
Opposite Brook Sedore led three Warriors in double figures with 15 kills. Outside hitters Sinisa Zarkovic (13) and JP Marks (12) helped UH's “Big Three” combine for 40 of the team's 53 kills. As a team, UH hit .260 and had just four service aces.
 
Miles Evans led the Gauchos with 14 kills, with 12 coming in the first two sets. Austin Kingi had four of the team's five aces along with seven kills and nine digs. Evan Licht added 12 kills and 11 digs. As a team, UCSB hit .280.
 
The Warriors battled back from an early 12-6 deficit in Set 1 with a six-point run to tie the score at 12, punctuated by back-to-back blocks by Zarkovic. The Gauchos regained the lead at 20-17 after a hitting error by Marks and led 23-20 before an ace by Sedore closed the lead to one. UCSB sided-out with kills by Evan Licht and Miles Evans to take the first set 25-23.
 
UH trailed 12-10 in Set 2 before scoring five unanswered for a 15-12 lead. UCSB regained the lead at 18-17 following consecutive hitting errors by Zarkovic and Marks and extended its lead to 22-19 after a kill by Andrew Koncur. Two points later, consecutive kills by Austin Kingi gave the Gauchos set point at 24-20. After a kill by Taylor Averill, Miles Evans ended it.
 
Hawai'i blew open Set 3 by scoring four unanswered for a 14-7 lead and led by as much as eight en route to a 25-18 victory.
 
The Warriors rallied again in Set 4, trailing 10-8. UH then went on a 7-2 run for a 15-12 lead. After the Gauchos closed to within 17-16, UH setter Joby Ramos spurred a three-point run with an ace and a clutch dig that extended a rally leading to another point. From there, UCSB took over scoring five straight – with the help of three straight UH hitting errors – to regain the lead at 21-20. After a Kingi service error tied the score at 21, Ryan Thompson put down a kill and Sedore was stuffed. The Gauchos closed out the match with kills by Licht and Andrew Kocur.
 
The teams play again on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. Following the match, UH's lone senior Matthew Cheape will be honored during the traditional Senior Night ceremony.