FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The fourth-ranked University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team overcame a sluggish start for a four-set win over Purdue Fort Wayne, Thursday in the first of two non-conference matches at Gates Sports Center. Set scores were 22-25, 25-13, 25-21, 25-14.
In their first road match of the season, the Rainbow Warriors (4-1) extended their road win streak to 13 matches dating back to 2022. The match-up also marked the first between the teams in Fort Wayne.
Opposite
Alaka'i Todd came off the bench and tallied 12 kills in 18 errorless attempts in three sets of action. The senior hit .667 and added one ace, five digs, and two blocks. Outside hitter
Spyros Chakas also had 12 kills along with four digs, one ace and one block.
As a team, the Warriors hit .355 for the match, including a combined .448 in Sets 2-4. UH held the Mastadons to .080 in the final three sets. Despite being out-blocked 8-to-4, UH had a 6-to-2 advantage in service aces and out-dug PFW 42-to-24.
Fort Wayne (4-2) was led by Mark Frazier, who had a match-high 14 kills and both of the team's two aces.
The Mastadons took advantage of eight UH attack errors to grab the opening set. Fort Wayne scored four of the last five points with the help of two of its six blocks for the win.
Hawai'i answered in Set 2, taking a 9-5 lead following a
Tread Rosenthal ace. The lead was 14-7 after a kill by Todd and the Warriors doubled-up the score at 24-12 following a 6-0 run with
Keoni Thiim at the service line.
The teams battled back and forth in Set 3 before UH reeled off three straight points for a 21-17 lead. Consecutive kills by Chakas and
Chaz Galloway made it 23-18 and Todd's fourth kill of the set gave UH a 2-1 lead in the match.
Hawai'i jumped all over the Mastadons in Set 4. A 4-0 run capped by a Todd ace made it 11-5. UH went on to hit .474 in the frame with four aces to close out the match.
The teams play again on Friday at 7:00 p.m. ET (2:00 p.m. HT).
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