HONOLULU – The fourth-ranked University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team got back in the win column with a straight set win over Emmanuel, Wednesday, in the first of two non-conference matches at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. Set scores were 25-10, 25-19, 25-16
The Rainbow Warriors (2-1) overcame a sluggish offensive performance with dominant serving and timely blocking. UH finished with 12 aces and nine blocks and limited the Lions to -.031 hitting.
UH fans also witnessed the debuts of outside hitter
Louis Sakanoko of Paris, France and opposite
Oguzhan Oguz of Bursa, Turkey. Sakanoko started Sets 2 and 3 displayed his lethal serving with three aces while Oguz started Set 3 and tallied two blocks.
Keoni Thiim made his second career start replacing
Chaz Galloway and finished with a team-high eight kills along with three aces, six digs, and two blocks.
Spyros Chakas added seven kills and three digs while
Guilherme Voss had six kills and three blocks.
Aiden Feeney led the Lions (0-1) with seven kills and four blocks.
UH had four aces and three blocks in a dominant first set win while hitting .316.
But Hawai'i's offensive struggles emerged in Set 2 with four early attack errors. The Lions led 17-15 before the Warriors responded with six straight points, including Sakanoko's first two aces. Despite committing eight attack errors and five service errors, UH closed out the set by scoring the final four points to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Lions again took advantage of UH's miscues for a 5-2 lead in Set 3. But Hawai'i scored six of the next seven points to take the lead and used an extended 10-3 run for a 13-8 cushion. UH's five aces in the set help push the lead to double digits and an Emmanuel service error closed out the match.
The teams meet again on Friday at 7:00 p.m.
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