STANFORD, Calif. – The top-ranked University of Hawai'i men's volleyball continued its streak of sweeps with its second straight 3-0 win over No. 8 Stanford Saturday in front of a capacity crowd at Burnham Pavilion. Set scores were 27-25, 25-19, 25-19.
The Rainbow Warriors (9-0) extended its overall win streak to 18 matches and their set win streak to 24 in their ninth straight win over the Cardinal. A pro-Hawai'i crowd packed the 1,300-seat Burnham Pavilion and rose on match point as UH closed out the match with its season-high 12
th block of the match.
Opposite
Dimitrios Mouchlias led the way with a match-high 17 kills, hitting .517 with four blocks. Middle blocker
Cole Hogland had a team-high six blocks along with three kills while outside hitter
Spyros Chakas added six kills, five digs, and two aces. Middle blocker
Guilherme Voss posted five kills and five stuffs.
As a team, UH's block finally came alive with 12.5. Hawai'i hit .333 for the match and its service game was efficient with six aces and nine errors. Five different players recorded an ace for the Warriors.
Will Rottman had a team-high 13 kills for the Cardinal (7-4) before exiting the match late in the third set with an apparent leg injury.
The match got chippy from the start with a competitive first set that saw the Cardinal take a 21-18 lead after a 3-0 scoring run. UH responded right back with three and grabbed the lead at 23-22 after an overpass kill by
Chaz Galloway. On the next point, Mouchlias and Hogland teamed to block Rottman setting up two set points for the Warriors but the Cardinal erased both and a kill by Rottman gave the Cardinal their own set point. Hogland's first of two kills down the stretch tied it at 25 and another sealed the win.
UH led 15-13 in Set 2 after a solo block by Galloway. An ace by serving sub
Keoni Thiim put UH on top 18-15 and the lead was 21-16 following kills by Voss and Mouchlias. Galloway put down the set winner and his stare down led to a yellow card to start Set 3. UH went on to hit .524 in the set with five blocks and two aces.
Hawai'i got off to a good start in Set 3 with a 7-1 lead after two aces and two blocks. The Cardinal caught the Warriors at 11-11 after consecutive kills by Rottman. Stanford used a 5-1 run for a 14-12 lead before UH came storming back with five straight, capped by an ace by Chakas for a 17-14 lead. The advantage was five at 22-17 and Mouchlias closed out the match with a kill and block.
The Warriors will return to Honolulu for a five-week homestand beginning with Concordia-Irvine, Feb. 16-17 at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
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