HONOLULU – The top-ranked University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team rebounded from its first loss of the season with an emphatic four-set win over No. 2 UCLA on the final day of the 27
th OUTRIGGER Invitational Saturday at a sold-out SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. Set scores were 29-27, 21-25, 25-22, 28-26.
In front of a raucous crowd of over 10,000, the Rainbow Warriors (17-1) defeated its former conference rival to finish the three-day OUTRIGGER Invitational with a 2-1 record. By virtue of a tie-breaker, Penn State captured the tournament title while UH was runner-up.
Jakob Thelle and
Kurt Nusterer teamed to block UCLA's Ethan Camplin on match point, sparking a wild celebration by the 12
th sellout crowd in program history. Nusterer, a redshirt freshman from Indianapolis, Ind., started at middle blocker in place of
Cole Hogland and finished with five kills in six errorless attempts and three blocks.
Tournament Most Outstanding Player
Dimitrios Mouchlias recorded a match-high 22 kills, hitting .390 with five digs, and two blocks. The Greek posted nine kills in a marathon Set 1 and eight kills in the decisive fourth set. Fellow Greek
Spyros Chakas was also named to the all-tournament team after finishing with nine kills, two aces, four digs, and five blocks.
Thelle, UH's third all-tourney selection, dished out 34 assists and led the Warriors to a .273 team hitting percentage. The Norway native also posted four kills, two aces, and seven digs.
UH, which was trying to avoid consecutive home losses for the first time since 2016, totaled 9.5 team blocks and five aces, and held UCLA to a .268 team hitting percentage.
The Bruins (19-2) were led by Ido David's 21 kills while Merrick McHenry added 11 kills in 17 errorless attempts and five blocks. The two were also named to the all-tournament team along with Penn State's Michal Kowal and Ryan Merk.
UH trailed early in Set 1 and rallied from a 23-20 deficit with four unanswered points to take a 24-23 lead. The set was tied four more times until the Warriors closed out the set on a kill by Mouchlias.
UCLA doubled up the Warriors 10-5 to start Set 2. Reserve outside hitter
Filip Humler entered the match and provided a boost for the Warriors who rallied to within two at 22-20. But the Bruins sided-out to close out the set and even the match.
Hawai'i jumped all over the Bruins in Set 3, as Thelle's service turn jump-started a 7-0 run. The Bruins mounted a comeback late and tied the score at 20 with tough serving by McHenry. But UH scored three straight with the help of back-to-back Bruin hitting errors to make it 23-20. After a pair of side-outs, the Warriors finished the set on a kill by Thelle.
Hawai'i again fell behind early in Set 4 trailing by as many as four before a 6-2 run pulled them to within one at 17-16. The teams traded side-outs until a kill by Mouchlias evened the score at 23-23. The Bruins wasted two set points and a kill by Mouchlias gave UH its first match-point at 26-25. David's kill tied the score but Ethan Champlin hit long giving Hawai'i its second match point.
In the first match of the day, No. 3 Penn State swept Purdue Fort Wayne to finish the tournament with a 2-1 mark. PFWU finished 0-3.
The Warriors will open Big West play next week with a pair of matches against defending regular season champion Long Beach State, Friday, March 17 and Saturday, March 18.
#HawaiiMVB
