HONOLULU – The top-ranked University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team set a new program record with its 27
th consecutive home win after Wednesday's four-set victory over Pepperdine in the first of two non-conference matches at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. Set scores were 25-15, 22-25, 25-22, 25-21.
The Rainbow Warriors (14-0) broke the previous mark of 26 straight home wins from 2016-18 and also extended their overall win streak to 23 straight, which is tied for eighth-longest in NCAA Division I-II history. UH remains the only undefeated team in the country.
With former All-American Costas Theocharidis in attendance, fellow Greeks
Spyros Chakas and
Dimitrios Mouchlias led the Hawai'i attack. Chakas finished with a team-high 18 kills, hitting .516 with a team-high 12 digs along with two aces. Mouchlias tallied 15 kills on a .423 clip with three aces and five digs.
Setter
Jakob Thelle returned to the starting lineup after missing the last four matches and led the Warriors to a .420 team hitting percentage. The Norway native dished out 42 assists and had six digs.
Middle blocker
Guilherme Voss had nine kills in 13 attempts and fellow middle
Cole Hogland shared team-high honors in blocks with
Chaz Galloway with six blocks.
Keoni Thiim contributed two aces off the bench. As a team, UH served nine aces and finished with eight blocks.
Jaylen Jasper posted a match-high 26 kills, hitting .468 for the Waves (10-7), who hit .336 as a team.
In Set 1, Pepperdine scored first three points but Hawai'i answered right back with the next five. UH took a 15-10 lead at the media timeout after a 4-1 run. The lead was 18-12 after an ace by Mouchlias. The Warriors closed out the set on a 6-1 run which included a wicked ace by Thiim. UH hit .632 in the set with three aces.
The Waves grabbed the early advantage in Set 2, scoring three straight for a 11-8 lead. Pepperdine led 15-10 before the Warriors used a 6-1 run to tie it at 16. The Waves answered with back-to-back points but UH responded with three more of their own with Hogland at the service line. The score was tied four more times until the Waves scored three straight for a 23-21 lead and sided-out to even the match at one set a piece.
UH jumped out to a 11-6 lead in Set 3 with a 7-2 run. The Warriors surged ahead 15-10 before the Waves cut the lead to two at 16-14. With UH leading 20-18, the Waves scored on a block but the call was reversed due to an illegal backrow attack giving the Warriors a three-point cushion. Hawai'i would go on to close it out on a Pepperdine service error.
The Warriors again got off to quick start in Set 4 and doubled up the Waves at 10-5. Aces by Chakas and Thiim made it 15-8. UH scored four unanswered including an ace by Mouchlias for a 19-9 lead. The Waves would not go away scoring six straight points to pull within four a 22-18 but Hawai'i sealed the win with a kill by Mouchlias.
The team play again on Friday at 7:00 p.m., at SimpliFi Arena.
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