HARROGATE, Tenn. – The No. 1-ranked University of Hawai'i remained unbeaten on its road trip with a straight set win over Lincoln Memorial, Monday at Tex Turner Arena. Set scores were 25-15, 25-15, 25-23.
 
The Rainbow Warriors (8-0) won the third time in four nights against a scrappy Railsplitters squad who nearly extended the match with a gutsy performance by Evan Cory in Set 3. UH also extended its season-opening win streak to eight.
 
Hawai'i hit .603 as a team, including .667 in Set 1 and .778 in Set 2. Outside hitter Colton Cowell and opposite Rado Parapunov each had 10 kills to lead the Warriors. Cowell hit .529 with three digs while Parapunov hit .692 with one ace and two blocks.
 
Middle blocker Patrick Gasman finished with seven of the team's nine blocks. Freshman outside hitter Chaz Galloway and setter Brett Sheward each made their first career starts for the Warriors. Galloway finished with six kills, hitting .857 while Sheward dished out 25 assists. 
 
Cory led LMU with 16 kills, hitting .556 including seven kills in the third set in which the Railsplitters hit .435.
 
In the early goings of Set 1, the Warriors strung together four straight for a 9-5 lead. Moments later, UH bunched together three more points, bolstered by a Gasman-Galloway double block for a 16-10 lead. UH finished off the set and tallied two aces and three blocks. 
 
In Set 2, back-to-back blocks by Gasman and Parapunov propelled UH to a 6-2 lead. The lead extended to seven at 16-9 after an ace by Parapunov. Hawai'i pulled away and finished the set without a hitting error in 18 attempts.
 
The Railsplitters kept things interesting in Set 3. An ace by Max Rosenfeld put UH on top 19-17 but LMU rallied and blocked Parapunov for the first time of the match tying it at 20-20. The Warriors responded with an ace by Filip Humler and another tough serve led to a Gasman overpass kill and a 23-20 lead. LMU closed to within one at 23-22 but Cowell and Parapunov went back-to-back to end it.
 
The Warriors conclude their road trip with a non-conference match-up at King, Tuesday, Jan. 21. First serve is 2:00 p.m. HT in Bristol, Tenn.