HONOLULU—The University of Hawai'i's top-ranked and second-seeded men's volleyball team (26-2, 8-2 Big West) overpowered No. 9 UC Irvine, 25-17, 25-16, 25-18, Friday in the Big West Tournament semifinals at the Stan Sheriff Center. The win advances the Rainbow Warriors to Saturday's championship match against top-seeded Long Beach State.

The Rainbow Warriors were led by junior opposite Rado Parapunov who put down a team-high 12 kills while recording a match-high four blocks along with teammate Patrick Gasman. Parapunov notched his 20^th match with double-digit kills to lead the Warriors. For the second time this season, he hit over .800 with an .857 hitting percentage with no errors in 14 attacks. He also tallied two service aces and two digs in the match.
 
Junior outside hitter Colton Cowell and senior outside hitter Stijn van Tilburg both added nine kills apiece while senior setter Joe Worsley dished out a match-high 29 assists and five digs.
 
In the first set, the two teams kept things close, until the Warriors went on a 5-to-1 run—three points coming on Cowell's serve which gave UH a 17-12 lead. After trading six side-outs, the 'Bows closed out the set, winning four of the last five points, ending with a pair of Parapunov service aces as UH took the first set 25-17.
 
Hawai'i took their momentum from the first set into the second as they jumped out to a 7-1 lead behind the serving of van Tilburg that force UC Irvine to call an early timeout. The 'Bows kept things rolling and extended their lead to 11-3 at which point the Anteaters called their final timeout of the frame. UH kept the pedal to the metal as the Warriors coasted to capture Set 2, 25-16.

UC Irvine (18-11) was led by Karl Apfelbach's 12 kills and Dante Chakravorti had three blocks.
 
The Anteaters took their first lead of the night at 2-1 in the third set, but it would be short-lived as Hawai'i would score five of the next six points for an early 6-3 lead.  Later UCI went on a 4-to-1 run to cut UH's lead to just one point at 12-11. UH however would respond by scoring the next six–straight points with van Tilburg serving to take an 18-11 lead en route to the team's 25^th three-set sweep of the season.
 
Hawai'i outblocked UC Irvine, 9.5-to-6.0 and out-hit the Anteaters, .441-to-.117.

Saturday's championship match is scheduled to start at 8:00 p.m. Turnstile gates open at 6:30 p.m.