Match Notes

The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team will take a four-match win streak into a pivotal Mountain Pacific Sports Federation series with USC, Thursday, Feb. 20 and Saturday, Feb. 22 at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, Calif. Match times are 7:00 p.m. PT (5:00 p.m. HT) each night.
 
The Rainbow Warriors (9-4, 7-3 MPSF) have won seven of their last nine matches and are currently tied for third place in the league standings. This week's series begins a stretch of four consecutive weeks UH will play teams ranked in the AVCA Top 10.
 
UH is coming off a back-to-back series sweeps of Cal State Northridge and California Baptist. The Warriors have hit .322 or better and have totaled 46.5 blocks and 18 service aces in the four matches. Middle blocker Taylor Averill has been on a tear, with 34 kills and just two errors in 43 attempts (.744) with 26 blocks (1.86 bps) during that stretch.
 
The Trojans (7-5, 6-5) split a pair of matches last week, falling in five at UC Irvine and sweeping UC San Diego. Freshman outside hitter Lucas Yoder has a team-high 3.85 kills per set average while hitting at a .289 clip. Setter Micah Christenson, a 2011 Kamehameha Schools-Kapalama graduate, missed the team's last two matches with a back injury.
 
Matches #14-15
Who: No. 11 Hawai'i (9-4, 7-3 MPSF) vs. No. 8 USC (7-5, 6-5 MPSF)
When: Thursday, Feb. 20 and Saturday, Feb. 22
Time: 7:00 p.m. PT (5:00 p.m. HT) both nights
Where: Galen Center; Los Angeles, Calif.
Television Coverage: Pac-12 Networks (Oceanic Digital Chs. 232-238) will televise Saturday's match live with Kevin Barnett (play-by-play) and Al Scates (analyst) calling the action.
Streaming Video: Live video streaming is available for Thursday's match on usctrojans.com
Radio Coverage: NBC Sports Radio AM1500 will air Thursday's match while ESPN 1420AM will broadcast Saturday's match live with Blaine Kauwe calling the action.
Audio Webcast: www.espn1420am.com
Live Stats: Available at USCTrojans.com
 
Series vs. USC: UH holds a 39-33 advantage over USC in the series which began in 1981. Last season, the Warriors swept the season series in Honolulu winning both matches in five sets, including the series opener in which UH rallied from an 0-2 deficit. USC swept the series in Los Angeles in 2012.
 
Recapping Last Week's Cal Baptist Series: The Rainbow Warriors won a pair of four-set matches over a feisty California Baptist squad. Only nine players suited up for CBU each night while three starters did not make the trip. Junior opposite Brook Sedore averaged a team-best 3.25 kills per set during the series while middle blocker Taylor Averill averaged 2.38 kills, on .720 hitting, and 2.12 blocks per set. Averill tallied a career-high 12 blocks in the opener and had eight kills with no errors in 10 attempts in the rematch. UH hit .352 and had 28 blocks in the series.
 
What's Next: UH returns to Honolulu to begin a two-week homestand against UCLA (Feb. 28 & March 1) and UC Irvine (March 7 & 9).