HONOLULU – For the third consecutive time, the No. 3 University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team defeated Long Island, taking Friday's match in four sets at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. Set scores were 25-18. 22-25, 25-15, 25-9.
The Rainbow Warriors (10-2), who also defeated the Sharks in straight sets on Wednesday and Thursday, won their sixth consecutive match and extended their regular season home win streak to 14. Meanwhile, LIU, a first-year program from New York, dropped to 3-10 on the year.
Following the match, the Warriors received their 2021 NCAA Championship rings. Earlier this year, the team unveiled their new championship banner in SimpliFi Arena.
In the win, UH set a new service ace record with 20, including seven by outside hitter
Filip Humler, who also led the team with 10 kills along with six blocks. Kāna'i Akana added four aces, three in the fourth set which broke the record, which the Warriors tied in last week's win over Queens and originally set in 1995. In all, nine players had at least one ace.
Hawai'i also recorded 18.5 team blocks led by
Cole Hogland, who recorded a career-high 10 in three sets played. Hogland added four kills and an ace.
LIU served tough (5 aces) and their frontline caused the Warriors fits. The Sharks tallied 9.5 blocks and limited Hawai'i to .237 hitting for the match.
In Set 1, UH took a commanding 9-4 lead. The Sharks cut the deficit to two at 10-8 after their third block of the set. Hawai'i extended the lead to four after an ace by Humler and a
Max Rosenfeld block. Hawai'i went on to hit .368 and three aces including the set winner by
Dimitrios Mouchlias.
UH started Set 2 with a 6-2 lead after consecutive aces by
Kyler Presho. But the Sharks scored five straight to take the lead. LIU made it 11-7 after a 9-1 run and maintained its lead through the end of the set. The Warriors pulled within one at 22-21 after a Humler kill but the Sharks scored three of the final four points to even the match.
Head coach
Charlie Wade brought in
Alaka'i Todd and Kāna'i Akana to start Set 3 and re-inserted Hogland into the line-up. A four-point spurt gave UH a 10-6 lead. After the Sharks scored three unanswered, Humler went back to serve and torched four straight aces during a 7-0 turn for a 17-9 lead. The Warriors finished with eight aces and four blocks in the set.
UH jumped out to an 8-1 lead to start Set 4 with four blocks by Hogland. A 12-0 run by Akana made it 14-1. Akana's third ace of the set broke the old program record.
The Warriors will next host another three-match, non-conference series against No. 15 Lincoln Memorial, Friday, Feb. 18 through Sunday, Feb. 20 at SimpliFi Arena.
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