IRVINE, Calif. – The second-ranked University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team made it two straight wins over No. 8 UC Irvine after a 3-0 victory Monday night at the Bren Center. Set scores were 25-14, 25-13, 28-26.
 
The Rainbow Warriors (2-0) swept the two-match, non-conference series and will next head south for another two-match, non-league series with UC San Diego Wednesday and Thursday in La Jolla, Calif. Both UH and UCI will meet again in Big West play during the final week of the regular season in Honolulu.
 
On his first kill of the night, senior opposite Rado Parapunov became the 18^th member of the 1,000-kill club. The Sofia, Bulgaria native went on to finish with a match-high 15 kills along with two aces and three blocks. Senior outside hitter Colton Cowell added 10 kills, hitting .600 with three blocks while middle blocker Patrick Gasman recorded six blocks to go along with seven kills.

Congrats to #RocketRado🚀 for joining the 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣-kill club!#WarriorBall21 🌈🏐 pic.twitter.com/5Ch8x3k6lD

— Hawaii Men's Volleyball (@HawaiiMensVB) February 23, 2021

 
For the second straight night, the Warriors hit over .400 as a team with a .466 clip on Monday. Defensively, UH held the Anteaters (0-2) to a .138 percentage and limited Joel Schneidmiller – who hit .483 a night earlier – to .094 hitting. Hawai'i's frontline came alive with 10 stuff blocks compared to only seven in a four-set win on Sunday.
 
Schneidmiller led the Anteaters with 11 kills while Francesco Sani added 10 kills and four blocks. 
 
Unlike Sunday's win, the Warriors got off to a fast start. Parapunov's first ace gave UH some separation with a 13-10 lead. Cowell then sparked a five-point run with consecutive kills for an 18-11 advantage and all told, Hawai'i used a 14-4 run to close out the set. The Makawao, Maui native finished with five kills as the Warriors hit .600 in the frame. 
 
In Set 2, UH pulled away scoring five straight points for a 13-8 lead. The lead ballooned to 20-13 after a block and kill by Guilherme Voss for a 20-13 lead. UH went on to hit .667 in the set with only one error in 21 swings. 
 
The Anteaters made things interesting in Set 3. UH held lead for much of the set, including at 15-9 following back-to-back blocks. But UCI slowly chipped away and closed to within one at 19-18 after blocking Parapunov. The Eaters tied the score at 22 after another block on Parapunov and had two set points after Scott Stadick roofed Gasman one-on one. But both Parapunov got his revenge as his second ace gave its UH match point at 26-25 and ended it with his 15^th kill on its second aloha ball.