Match Notes

After spending the first three weeks of the regular season at home, the University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team will make its first trip to the mainland for a two-match Mountain Pacific Sports Federation series against No. 9 UC Santa Barbara, Thursday, Jan. 30 and Friday, Jan. 31. Match times are 7:00 p.m. PT (5:00 p.m. HT) at Rob Gym on the UCSB campus.
 
The 11th-ranked Rainbow Warriors (5-2, 3-1 MPSF) successfully completed a two-match sweep of UC San Diego last week. UH hardly broke a sweat in either match hitting for high percentages (.353 and .478) while totaling 21.5 team blocks. Hawai'i also tallied 12 services aces during the series. Middle blocker Taylor Averill committed only one hitting over the weekend, hitting .708 while averaging 3.00 kills and 1.50 blocks per set.
 
The Gauchos (3-2, 2-2) dropped a pair of matches last week, falling in straight sets to UCLA and in five to UC Irvine. In the UCI match, UCSB rallied from a two sets to none deficit and held three match points, including two at 14-12 in the fifth before falling 17-15. Outside hitter Austin Kingi leads a balanced Gaucho attach at 2.95 kills per set and had a season-high 17 kills against the Anteaters.
 
Matches #8-9
Who: No. 11 Hawai'i (5-2, 3-1 MPSF) vs. No. 9 UC Santa Barbara (3-2, 2-2 MPSF)
When: Thursday, Jan. 30 and Friday, Jan. 31
Time: 7:00 p.m. PT / 5:00 p.m. HT both nights
Where: Rob Gym; Santa Barbara, Calif.
Radio Coverage: NBC Sports Radio AM 1500 will broadcast Thursday's match while ESPN 1420AM will air Friday's match with Blaine Kauwe calling the action.
Audio Webcast: www.NBCSportsRadio.com and www.espn1420am.com
Live Stats: Available at ucsbgauchos.com
Series vs. UC Santa Barbara: UH leads the overall series 42-33. UCSB swept the series the past two years and have won five straight in the series dating back to 2011. The teams have split the season series eight times since 2001.
 
Recapping Last Week's UC San Diego Series: The Rainbow Warriors easily handed UC San Diego a pair of straight-set defeats last week. The opener lasted just 89 minutes as UH held the Tritons to .000 hitting in each of the first two sets and .067 for the match. Sinisa Zarkovic led the Warriors with nine kills and three service aces. In the rematch, Hawai'i hit a season-best .478 as the middles - Taylor Averill (10) and Davis Holt (7) combined for 17 kills with no errors on .810 hitting. Holt also added a career-best eight blocks, including three solo blocks. UH tallied 11.5 total blocks and seven aces in the match.
 
What's Next: UH returns to the mainland for an MPSF series at Cal State Northridge, Friday, Feb. 7 and Saturday, Feb. 8.