HONOLULU – The No. 1 University of Hawai'i men's volleyball opened the Raising Cane's Rainbow Warrior Classic with a straight-set win over Emmanuel Thursday at the Stan Sheriff Center. Set scores were 25-13, 25-15, 25-15 in a match that lasted only 87 minutes.
 
The two-time defending classic champion Rainbow Warriors (3-0) remained perfect in the tournament winning their seventh consecutive match since 2018. UH also extended its home win streak to 20.
 
In the first-ever meeting between the teams, Hawai'i made it look easy from the onset. The Warriors used 20 of their 21 players including freshmen Chaz Galloway and Danny Wong and junior Garrett Geiger, all of whom made their UH debuts. The starters played only the first set led by Colton Cowell's six kills in seven attempts.
 
Emmanuel (0-1) was led by Cowell's King Kekaulike High teammate Don Thompson, who had a match-high nine kills along with three digs.
 
UH hit .470 as a team and held the Lions to a .107 clip. The Warriors also recorded nine aces, including two each by Dimitrios Mouchlias and Jackson Van Eekeren. At the net, Hawai'i out-blocked EC 10.5 to 0. 
 
After the Lions tied the score at 5-5 in Set 1, the Warriors reeled off seven straight. The lead extended to double digits when Hawai'i scored six of seven points. Filip Humler's ace gave the Warriors a 21-9 lead and UH went on to hit .700 in the set with 15 kills in 20 attempts.
 
With an entirely new lineup in Set 2, Hawai'i got off to a slow start before using a 4-0 run for a 10-7 lead. Van Eekeren's ace followed by Cole Hogland's block put UH on top 21-12. Hogland's second kill of the set ended it at 25-15. 
 
Head coach Charlie Wade tinkered with his lineup again in Set 3. The Lions kept it close trailing by only two at 12-10 before the Warriors pulled away. Galloway tallied six kills in the set while middle blocker Max Rosenfeld added to his block total, finishing with a career-high seven on the night. 
 
In the tournament's earlier match, Harvard (1-0) defeated Grand Canyon, 25-18, 25-23, 25-23. Campell Schoenfeld had a match-high 14 kills for the Crimson who hit .344 as a team. On Friday, GCU takes on Emmanuel at 4:00 p.m., followed by UH and Harvard at 7:00 p.m.