HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team held its annual alumni match Friday night at the Stan Sheriff Center. The match lasted four sets with each team winning two – the varsity captured the first two sets 25-11 and 25-19 while the alumni won the last two 25-23 and 25-20.
 
In the midst of a two-week bye, the Rainbow Warriors dominated the opening set as Rado Parapunov led the way with five kills and Colton Cowell chipping in with four. The lop-sided result forced the alumni to make changes to their roster as varsity squad members Stijn van Tilburg, Dalton Solbrig, and Gage Worsley switched to the other side of the net in Set 2.
 
The alums made a game of it, even taking lead midway through the set. But the varsity pulled ahead and took the game 25-19 to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Middle blocker Patrick Gasman switched sides in Sets 3 and was a force for the alumni squad. The alums took advantage, leading throughout the set and holding on for a 25-23 win. 
 
The teams switched back to their original line-ups in Set 4. The alumni took control with a 15-9 lead after back-to-back aces by Joby Ramos and grabbed the win as Gage Worsley's serve sailed long.
 
Brett Rosenmeier and Filip Humler led the varsity squad with 10 kills each. Larry Tuileta had a team-high eight kills for the alumni while Mike China chipped in with seven.
 
The night began with a skills competition featuring both the alumni and varsity. Surprisingly, the alums won all five challenges. Tom Pestolesi and Kolby Kanetake teamed up to defeat van Tilburg and Joe Worsley in the serving location competition while Tuileta won the fastest serve at 63 miles per hour.
 
In the setting competition, alum Brian Beckwith and Joe Worsley each finished with 60 perfect sets with Beckwith winning the tie-breaker. Former Warrior Māmane Namahoe won the highest bounce competition and alum Nemanja Komar captured the hitting target challenge besting UH junior James Anastassiades.
 
The current Warriors return to the court next week with a pair of non-conference matches against Stanford, Friday, Feb. 1 and Sunday, Feb. 3 at the Stan Sheriff Center.