MUNCIE, Ind. – The undermanned University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team showed a lot of fight but still dropped its second straight match to No. 10 Ball State, Monday at Worthen Arena. Set scores were 25-18, 22-25, 27-25, 22-25, 15-11.
 
Still without three starters, the Rainbow Warriors (4-2) battled their way to a fifth set before succumbing 15-11. Greek stars Dimitrios Mouchlias and Spyros Chakas led the way with career-highs in kills with 21 and 15, respectively. Mouchlias added 10 digs for his first career double-double while Chakas also set career-highs in aces (3), digs (5), and blocks (4).
 
UH could not overcome the potent Cardinal attack led by Angelos Mandilaris (25 kills) and Kaleb Jenness (20 kills). As a team, BSU (5-0) hit .436. Quinn Isaacson led the way with five aces, including the match winner.
 
Without stars Jakob Thelle, Chaz Galloway, and Guilherme Voss, head coach Charlie Wade went with a line-up that included Cole Hogland, who made his first career start at middle blocker and Filip Humler, who returned to the line-up at outside hitter after missing Saturday's match. Hogland had 10 kills in 14 attempts and four blocks while Humler appeared in only the first set before giving way to Kāna'i Akana.
 
BSU finished with three aces and hit .706 in the opening set. The Warriors answered back in Set 2, taking an 18-13 lead before the Cardinals tied it at 21.
 
Three straight points gave UH an 18-13 lead in Set 2. After a block gave UH a 20-16 lead, the Cardinals answered with three straight to pull within one. Akana hit wide tying the score at 21. The teams traded points before the Warriors scored three straight including a kill by Chakas to end it.
 
In the pivotal Set 3, BSU jumped out to an early lead. The Warriors tied it at 9 and again at 17. The Cardinals surged ahead by two before a hitting error tied it at 22. The teams traded points with the score tied three more times until Chakas hit into a triple block on BSU's third set point.
 
The top-ranked team in the country would not go away in Set 4, erasing a four-point deficit and tying it up at 17 after a kill by Akana. UH took its first lead of the set at 20-19 after a Chakas-Max Rosenfeld double block and sided-out until scoring three straight points for a 24-21 lead. Chakas put down his 14^th kill to send the match to a fifth set.
 
UH led 3-1 to open Set 5 before the Cardinals went on a 6-0 run with Isaacson at the service line for a 7-3 lead. UH clawed its way back and an ace by Keoni Thiim closed the deficit to 9-8. The teams traded points until Akana hit long giving BSU a 13-11 lead. On the ensuing point, Mandilaris pounded his 25^th kill and after a UH timeout Isaacson ended it with his fifth ace.
 
UH will continue its road trip by competing in the First Point Collegiate Challenge in Austin, Texas. The Warriors will play Farleigh Dickenson, Queens, and Stanford in the two-day event, Feb. 4-5.