HONOLULU – The top-ranked University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team unveiled its new championship banner then proceeded to defeat No. 6 Ball State in four sets Friday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. Set scores were 23-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-18.
The Rainbow Warriors (2-0) extended their home win streak to 20 matches and avenged two regular season losses to the Cardinals last season Muncie, Ind. UH displayed its potent offense, hitting a combined .420 in the series, including a .439 clip on Friday.
UH pin hitters were nearly unstoppable all night, hitting a combined .480 for the match.
Spyros Chakas led the team once again with 24 kills, two shy of his career-high, while hitting .581 and two emphatic solo stuff blocks.
Dimitrios Mouchlias rebounded from an off night on Thursday with 13 kills, hitting .455 and a career-high six service aces.
Chaz Galloway added 12 kills on .364 hitting.
As a team, the Warriors had an erratic night at the service line with eight aces and 23 service errors. The 23 errors were the most by a UH team in a single match since April 18, 2015 (24 at BYU).
The team unveiled their 2022 NCAA Championship banner in a pre-match ceremony that seemed to fire up the Cardinals more. UH trailed by as many as six in the first part of the set, committing five attack errors. The Warriors closed to within one but the Cardinals maintained their lead, trading side-outs until surging ahead 24-21. UH erased two set points before
Cole Hogland's service error – UH's ninth of the set – ended it.
With the score tied at 12 in Set 2, the Warriors scored three of four points to take a 15-13 lead at the media timeout. UH led 18-15 after consecutive kills by Chakas. BSU fended off two set points and pulled to within one at 24-23 before Chakas' 14
th kill closed out the set.
UH opened up a 10-4 lead to start Set 3 behind a pair of aces by Mouchlias. The advantage was seven at 16-9 before the Cardinals inched back to within four. But a 6-2 run – which included two more Mouchlias aces – all but put the game away and gave UH a 2-1 advantage in the match. Mouchlias finished with four aces in the set.
In Set 4, UH used a 5-1 run, which included another Mouchlias ace, to take an 18-13 lead. The Warriors would not look back and ironically a BSU service error ended the match.
Hawai'i will host a two-match series with Saint Francis, Wednesday, Jan. 18 and Friday, Jan. 20 at SimpliFi Arena.
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