MUNCIE, Ind. – The top-ranked and under-manned University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team suffered its first loss of the season to No. 15 Ball State, Saturday at Worthen Arena. Set scores were 25-20, 25-18, 25-19.
 
The Rainbow Warriors (4-1) were without four prominent players due to health and safety protocols or injuries – setter Jakob Thelle, middle blocker Guilherme Voss, outside hitter Chaz Galloway, and outside hitter Filip Humler.
 
Without arguably the nation's top player in Thelle and top middle in Voss, redshirt freshman setter Jack Walmer made his first career start. Back-ups Kyler Presho and Kāna'i Akana started for Voss and Galloway, respectively. The Warriors were clearly under-manned and head coach Charlie Wade tinkered with his line-up throughout with Alaka'i Todd, Keoni Thiim, and Cole Hogland getting playing time. 
 
Meanwhile, the Cardinals (4-0) were led by their 1-2 punch of Kaleb Jenness (19K, 2B) and Angelos Mandilaris (14K, 3B). BSU hit .410 as a team compared to .159 for the Warriors. The nation's top two serving teams combined for only two aces in the match. 
 
Hawai'i got off to a slow start in Set 1 and trailed by as many as six in the early going. A kill by Dimitrios Mouchlias and a solo block by Max Rosenfeld tied the score at 13. However the Cardinals answered with four straight points for a 20-15 lead and closed out the set hitting .517. 
 
UH took its first lead of the match at 5-4 in Set 2. The teams traded leads for the better part of the set before the Cardinals took a 22-17 lead. BSU finished the set with a 7-1 run for a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Thiim, Hogland, and Todd provided a spark off the bench in Set 3. The Warriors hung tough until squandering three straight points and trailed 20-16. BSU scored four of the final five points to close out the match.
 
The teams will play again Monday at 7:00 p.m. ET.