FAIRFAX, Va. – The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team (29-2) kept their season alive, surviving a five-set thriller over Penn State in the NCAA Championship semifinal on Thursday , 25-20, 25-23, 16-25, 23-25, 15-10 at EagleBank Arena. The Rainbow Warriors (29-2) advance to face the tournament's top-seed UCLA in Saturday's title match and will look to become the NCAA's first three-peat champion in four decades.

Dimitrious Mouchlias pounded a season-high 25 kills while Chaz Galloway posted his first double-double of the season to propel Hawai'i into its fourth-straight NCAA title match.
 
Hawai'i avenged a four-set loss to the Nittany Lions in March in the OUTRIGGER Invitational. The win marked UH's 29^th of the season to set a new program record, surpassing the 28 wins set by the 2019 team. The "W" also extended UH's win streak to 12, while snapping PSU's 12-match win streak. It was the first time all season that UH was pushed to five sets.

Hawai'i is now 6-2 all-time in the NCAA semifinal and 4-2 against Penn State in NCAA Tournament matches.
 
Mouchlias led both teams in kills while hitting .364 for the match. It was his fourth 20+ kill performance this season and sixth of his career. Galloway helped to lead Hawai'i with his 21^st career and 10th double-digit kill match of the season while coming through with career-high 12 digs in the back row. Brett Sheward notched his fifth double-digit dig match this season scooping up 10 in the five-set win. The Warriors out-blocked (8.5-8.0) and out-dug the Nittany Lions, 48-37 to help overcome 21 service errors. Penn State had a 12-3 service ace advantage over the 'Bows.
 
The first set was tight with seven ties until PSU went on a four-point run to take an 13-9 lead. Hawai'i however chipped away and eventually caught the Nittany Lions at 16-16. A 7-0 UH scoring run put the set out of reach as the 'Bows built a 23-18 lead. The Warriors were uber efficient offensively, out-hitting Penn State, .409-to-.037 in the first set alone.
 
Hawai'i led Set 2 from the get-go, never trailing in the frame. But UH never led by more than three points and held off PSU, 25-23 to take a 2-0 match lead. Mouchlias was on fire in the second set, putting down seven kills on 11 swings for a .455 hitting percentage.
 
In the third, Hawai'i got off to a quick start to begin Set 3, jumping out to an early 4-1 lead. But Penn State, who was fighting to stay alive, then scored six-straight points to leapfrog over UH and they never looked back. The Nittany Lions pulled away to cruise to 25-16 set win. Penn State hit .318 for the frame while holding UH to a .071 hitting percentage.
 
The Warriors again built an early five-point lead at 10-5 to begin Set 4, but Penn State who had thoughts of recording a reverse-sweep would go on a 9-1 run to take a 14-11 lead. Hawai'i battled back and see-saw into the lead with three unanswered on Kāna'i Akana's serving at 21-20. But PSU responded by scoring three-straight points of their own and went on to take Set 4, 25-23.
 
Hawai'i's 6-1 run at the beginning of the fifth set the tone early. This time, UH kept PSU at bay and sided out at 90% (10-11) and held on to win, 15-10.
 
Saturday's championship match begins at 11:00 a.m. HT at the EagleBank Arena. It will be a rematch between the teams from earlier this year when UH won in four.