HONOLULU – The top-ranked University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team clinched a share of the Big West regular season title with a straight set win over UC San Diego, Saturday in the regular season finale in front of a sold out SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. Set scores were 25-19, 25-22, 25-21.
The Rainbow Warriors (26-2, 9-1 BW) shared the title with Long Beach State after the Beach rallied to defeat UC Irvine in five sets. UH, however, will still be the No. 1 seed in next week's Big West Championship in Irvine, Calif. The regular season title is UH's second Big West regular season crown.
Following the match, six seniors were honored during the Senior Night ceremony. Among the honorees was setter
Jakob Thelle, who finished with 27 assists while leading UH to a .375 hitting percentage. Opposite
Dimitrios Mouchlias was also honored and tallied a team-high 11 kills, two aces and five blocks. Another senior
Cole Hogland added two kills and four blocks.
Outside hitter
Spyros Chakas posted nine kills, three aces, and four blocks while middle blocker
Guilherme Voss had six kills and six blocks and
Chaz Galloway had seven kills and six digs.
The Tritons (8-17, 2-8) were led by Josh Schellinger's 12 kills while Ryan Ka added 11 kills.
In Set 1, UH took a 17-12 lead after a 4-1 run that included three kills by Chakas. An ace by Voss made it 22-16 and Hawai'i went on to hit .419 in the set with two aces and three blocks.
UCSD led 9-7 early in Set 2 before the Warriors responded to lead by three at the media timeout after a 4-1 run. UCSD led 22-21 before the Warriors came storming back, scoring the final four points with included a pair of Mouchlias kills, to take the set.
UH jumped all over the Tritons in Set 3 and led 12-7 after an ace by Thelle and triple block. The Tritons closed to within three at 20-17 but the Warriors scored four straight which included three straight aces by Chakas.
The Big West Championship runs April 20-22 in Irvine, Calif. By virtue of the No. 1 seed, UH earned a bye into the semifinals and will play the winner of UC Santa Barbara-UC San Diego in Friday's semifinals.
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