HONOLULU – The top-ranked University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team easily put away Long Island Wednesday in the opener of a two-match series at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. Set scores were 25-13, 25-13, 25-18.
The Rainbow Warriors (12-0) remained undefeated on the year and extended their nation's longest win streak to 21 matches. UH also won its 25
th consecutive home match, which is one shy of the program record of 26. Hawai'i can match that mark on Friday when the two teams play.
Three of the nation's four remaining undefeated teams were in action on Wednesday with UH and Grand Canyon winning its matches while Benedict dropped its first of the season.
Leading the way for the Warriors was outside hitter
Keoni Thiim, who tallied a career-high seven kills in 10 errorless attempts in just one set with his seventh and final kill coming on match point. Outside hitter
Spyros Chakas added six kills and five blocks while middle blocker
Cole Hogland posted a team-high eight blocks along with four kills and two aces. Reserve opposite
Alaka'i Todd also had five kills, hitting .571.
For the third straight match and fourth time this season, junior
Brett Sheward started at setter for Hawai'i in place of All-American
Jakob Thelle. The Newport Beach, Calif., native dished out 29 assists and led the Warriors to a team hitting percentage of .343. UH finished with 10.5 blocks and held the Sharks to a .000 clip
LIU (6-5) was led by Livan Moreno's seven kills while Kamehameha Schools-Maui alum Kale Spencer recorded six kills and two blocks. The Sharks are now 0-4 against Hawai'i in a series that began last season.
In Set 1, the Sharks kept it close as UH committed several early attack errors. The Warriors built their lead to six with the help of back-to-back kills and an ace by
Dimitrios Mouchlias. With the score 18-13, Kāna'i Akana served out the set as the Warriors scored the final seven points to take the opening frame.
Hawai'i scored the first four points of Set 2 and never looked back. The lead was 15-5 at the media timeout after a 7-1 run that included an ace by Hogland. UH recorded six blocks in the set and held the Sharks to -.227 hitting.
The Sharks took their first lead of the match in Set 3, taking a 6-3 advantage in the early going. UH tied it at 8 and the score was tied five more times, the last at 17-17 until the Warriors reeled off four straight for a 21-17 lead. After a Spencer kill, Hawai'i scored the final four points of the match to end it.
The teams play again on Friday at 7:00 p.m., at SimpliFi Arena.
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