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MALIBU, Calif. – The No. 5 University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team saw its three-match season-opening win streak come to an end following a straight-set loss to No. 12 Pepperdine, in both teams' Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opener Friday at Firestone Fieldhouse. Set scores were 25-20, 25-20, 25-22.
 
The Rainbow Warriors (3-1, 0-1 MPSF) also dropped their first sets of the season after winning their previous three matches in straight sets. Pepperdine (2-0, 1-0) extended its win streak over UH in Malibu, Calif., to five straight dating back to 2012.
 
For the fourth straight match, UH's go-to hitters Sinisa Zarkovic and Stijn van Tilburg reached double-figures in kills with 14 and 12, respectively. Zarkovic hit for a .320 percentage and posted two of the team's three service aces while van Tilburg was held to his lowest hitting percentage (.160) of the season with eight errors in 25 swings.
 
No other Rainbow Warrior posted more than three kills while their middles – Iain McKellar (3), Hendrik Mol (2), Nainoa Frank (1) – combined for only six kills and two blocks. UH was held to a season-low .232 hitting percentage.
 
The Waves were led by Matt Tarantino, who tallied 13 kills with no errors in 16 attempts hitting at a .812 clip. Middle blocker Mitchell Penning posted seven kills (.556) while fellow middle Tommy Carmody added six kills and seven blocks. As a team, the Waves hit .429, recorded eight aces, and out-blocked UH, 11-3.
 
The Waves gained the early advantage in Set 1, reeling off five straight points with Colby Harriman at the service line for a 15-12 lead. Pepperdine pushed its lead to 20-15, capped by an ace by David Wiezczorek, during a three-point surge and managed to side-out the rest of the way for the 25-20 victory.
 
In a tightly contested second set, the Waves gained a three-point advantage at 20-17 following a hitting error by van Tilburg and pushed their lead to 22-18 after Carmody and Wieczorek stuffed Zarkovic. The Waves closed out the set by out-scoring the Warriors, 7-3 to take a two sets to none advantage.
 
With Hawaii fighting to stay in Set 3, Pepperdine's Max States ripped back-to-back aces during a four-point run which gave the Waves a 19-15 lead. The Warriors rallied to tie it at 20 following an ace by Jennings Franciskovic and momentarily took a 21-20 lead when the Waves got tangled in the net. But Pepperdine rebounded and scored the final four points as Mitchell Penning recorded a pair of aces, including on match point.
 
The teams play again in the rematch Saturday at 7:00 p.m. PT (5:00 p.m. HT).