PROVO, Utah—The No. 2 University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team swept No. 8 BYU, Saturday on the final day of the BYU Invitational, to tally its program-record 20th-consecutive win. The Rainbow Warriors (20-0) dismantled the Cougars, 25-20, 25-17, 25-14, to extend their NCAA-set win streak to 60.
Outside hitter
Stijn van Tilburg led the Warriors with 13 kills while middle blocker
Patrick Gasman and opposite
Rado Parapunov added 10 kills each in front of a raucous crowd at the Smith Fieldhouse. UH went 3-0 to win the BYU Invitational title, notching straight-set wins over McKendree, Princeton and the host Cougars. Hawai'i also snapped its 15-match losing streak against BYU in Provo with only its fourth win there in 29 all-time meetings.
Van Tilburg hit an even .500 with just one error in 24 swings and led UH with 42 kills in the tournament, hitting .528. The Amsterdam, Netherlands native also was one of three players to record three service aces against the Cougars. Gasman came up huge, pounding 10 kills with no errors in just 11 attacks for a .900 hitting percentage. He was also was a force at the net, recording a match-high five blocks. Parapunov also tallied three service aces along with five digs and four blocks.
Setter
Joe Worsley dished out 37 assists and put down four kills of his own. He also served three aces and had a block and eight digs. Libero
Gage Worsley recorded his eighth double-digit dig match of the season with a match-high 10 digs.
In the first set, both sides went on early runs with four lead changes and seven ties. BYU last tied UH at 18-18 but from that point, the Warriors finished the frame on a 7-to-2 run. Gasman and Parapunov led UH with four kills apiece. Gasman also led the 'Bows with three blocks in the opening set.
The second set was close early. BYU led to start things, but once Hawai'i took the lead at 7-6, the Warriors never looked back and started to slowly pull away. UH led by as many as seven points at 20-13, but the Cougars rallied to score four of the next five points to trail by just four, 21-17. After UH called timeout, the 'Bows took care of business winning the final four points for a 25-17 win.
Hawai'i then hit the after-burners in the third set to stymie the Cougars. UH scored in bunches as BYU could not find answers for UH's offensive attack. Again, UH finished the set strong, winning the final five points to seal the sweep, 25-14.
As a team the Warriors out-hit the Cougars .420-to-.138. Hawai'i hit .650 in the third set alone and edged BYU in blocks, 8.5-to-7.5.
The Warriors will stay on the road for three more matches before returning for their final two home matches of the regular season. UH will take on Concordia-Irvine on Tuesday March 26 at 4:00 p.m. HT in a mid-week match and will conclude its road trip with a pair of matches at UC San Diego, Friday March 29 and Saturday, March 20. Both matches are slated to start at 4:00 p.m. HT.
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