HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team completed its second straight sweep of Saint Francis after a 3-0 win Friday in a non-conference match at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. Set scores were 25-21, 25-20, 25-20.
The Rainbow Warriors (4-0) also went undefeated in all four matches of their season-opening homestand and extended their home win streak to 22 matches. UH won't play again at SimpliFi Arena until a two-match series against Concordia-Irvine, Feb. 16 & 17.
Greek sensations
Spyros Chakas and
Dimitrios Mouchlias each tallied 14 kills to lead the Warriors. Mouchlias hit .481 with three aces while Chakas hit .345 and added three digs.
As a team, UH served nine aces led by setter
Jakob Thelle's four. The Norway native dished out 34 assists and led the Warriors to a .340 hitting percentage. Serving sub
Keoni Thiim added two aces and finished with five for the series. Libero
Brett Sheward had a match-high 13 digs.
Saint Francis (0-4) was led by Nathan Zini's eight kills. For the second time, the Red Flash out-blocked the Warriors, 3-to-2.
UH scored the first four points of the opening set and surged to an 8-2 lead. The Red Flash used a 9-2 run of their own to tie it at 12-12 before the Warriors scored three straight for a 15-12 lead at the media timeout. Consecutive aces by Mouchlias capped a 4-0 scoring run and put UH ahead 22-15. The Warriors finished with five aces in the set en route to a 25-21 victory.
The teams traded points to start Set 2. UH led 14-10 after an ace by Thiim. The Red Flash pulled to within one but a 4-1 run by the Warriors, including two kills by Chakas, made it 22-17. The Greek finished with nine kills in the set as UH took a 2-0 lead in the match.
UH led 10-4 early in the third set. The lead was nine when head coach
Charlie Wade began to empty his bench including sophomore setter
Austin Buchanan, who made his season debut and finished with four assists.
The Warriors will next hit the road for the first time this season with a trip to the state of North Carolina for matches at Queens, Jan. 25, Belmont-Abbey, Jan. 26 and Barton, Jan. 28.
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