LA JOLLA, Calif. – The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team saw its nine-match win streak come to an end after a five-set loss to 10^th-ranked UC San Diego Wednesday at RIMAC Arena. Set scores were 25-22, 25-23, 25-27, 18-25, 15-9.
 
The Rainbow Warriors (13-3, 0-1 BWC) dropped their Big West opener, which also snapped an 11-match conference win streak and a 17-match regular season win streak. UH also lost for the first time in La Jolla, Calif., since 2011 ending a 10-match win streak.
 
Meanwhile, the Tritons defeated the defending national champions for the second consecutive time after a win in last year's Big West Conference Tournament semifinals. The teams are scheduled to play again on Friday at 7:00 p.m. PT at RIMAC Arena.
 
Hawai'i erased a 2-0 deficit in the match to force a fifth set. But after an early lead in Set 5, the Warriors allowed three straight Triton points and then a 5-1 run to fall behind 12-8. UCSD scored the final three points to close out the win.  
 
UCSD (8-6, 1-1) dominated nearly every facet of the match with more kills (70-47), hitting percentage (.280-.192), and digs (56-37) with UH winning the battle at the net (13-8). Ryan Ka and Kyle McCauley each had 19 kills to lead the Tritons.
 
Dimitrios Mouchlias had a team-high 13 kills for the Warriors while Guilherme Voss and Spyros Chakas each chipped in with nine. Voss tied his career-high with eight blocks while Mouchlias tallied his second career double-double with 10 digs.
 
The Tritons scored back-to-back points for a 23-20 lead in Set 1. In the second set, an apparent out call that would have tied the score at 21 was overturned in the Tritons favor and instead giving them a 22-20 lead.
 
UH made wholesale changes in Set 3 with Filip Humler, Kana'i Akana and Max Rosenfeld entering the lineup. The teams battled back and forth until the end with the Tritons erasing two set points. A McCauley service error gave UH its third try for the set and Voss blocked Shane Benetz one-on-one to end it.
 
Hawai'i used a 7-1 run for a 16-11 lead in Set 4. Moments later, UH scored two natural points off of Jack Walmer's serve for a 22-16 lead and an ace by Jakob Thelle closed out the frame and forced a fifth set.
 
The Warrior's jumped out to a quick two-point lead in Set 5. But UCSD scored three straight for a 7-6 lead. UH tied it after a Max Rosenfeld kill but after a Keoni Thiim service error, the Tritons scored four of the next five points and 8 of 10 to wrap up the match.