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HONOLULU – The No. 1 University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team defeated No. 15 Stanford, 25-17, 25-22, 26-24 Friday night at the Stan Sheriff Center. UH extends to a 15-match winning streak and improves to a 22-3, 17-2 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation record.

A season-high crowd of 5,708 supported the Rainbow Warriors for the opening match of their final home series against the Cardinal. UH was led by junior Sinisa Zarkovic, who recorded a team-high 12 kills for his 12^th double-digit kill match of the season. Opposite Brook Sedore additionally added 11 kills for his 15^th in the double-digits this season.  

Setter Jennings Franciskovic also stepped up for the 'Bows' defense with a career-high eight blocks, while libero Kolby Kanetake tallied 17 digs for UH. Meanwhile, the Cardinal (10-15, 7-12 MPSF) were led by Iolani graduate Gabriel Vega who recorded a match-high 14 kills.

The Rainbow Warriors dominated Set 1, outhitting the Cardinal .500 (17-2-30) to .097 (10-7-31). Although Stanford held a slight edge at the very start following back-to-back service aces by Gabriel Vega, UH broke away with a 9-3 run and never looked back. In the final stretch,
UH gained the set-point advantage after a Stanford attacking error with Zarkovic ending the set 25-17.  

After rallying back and forth through most of Set 2, the Warriors finally took control with an 11-7 run to win the set. The Cardinal came close after Vega brought them within just two points behind UH, but Zarkovic was there to end it once again 25-22.

UH controlled the pace for the majority of Set 3 with a commanding 20-15 following an ace by Zarkovic. However, the Cardinal somehow pulled past the 'Bows after gaining an 8-1 advantage for a 24-22 lead. Following a UH timeout however, the Warriors pulled it together to come back and score four unanswered points with Franciskovic, Taylor Averill (eight kills, seven blocks) and Zarkovic's triple-block wall denying Vega's final two attempts to win the match 26-24.

The Rainbow Warriors face Stanford again on Saturday night for their final regular season home match in a white-out night. Seven seniors will be honored following the game in annual Senior Night Festivities.