HONOLULU – The No. 3 University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team dropped a five-set thriller to 10^th-ranked Loyola Chicago, Friday in the second of two non-conference matches at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. Set scores were 18-25, 25-22, 18-25, 25-23, 15-13.
 
Two nights after sweeping the Ramblers, the Rainbow Warriors (1-1) were pushed to the limit but ultimately their untimely errors were the difference in the match. UH committed 27 service errors compared to 14 for LUC. Hawai'i served at 93 percent in the straight set win on Wednesday but only 75 percent in the rematch.
 
Despite their struggles at the service line, the Warriors were mainly efficient offensively, hitting at a .469 clip. Opposite Alaka'i Todd and middle blocker Guilherme Voss combined did not commit an attack error in 35 attempts with 23 kills. Outside hitter Spyros Chakas led the way with a match-high 22 kills, hitting .500.
 
Freshman setter Tread Rosenthal dished out 58 assists and tallied a team-high four aces, three coming in Set 3. As a team, UH recorded 11 aces to Loyola's six.
 
Parker Van Buren led the Ramblers (1-1) with 20 kills, hitting .410, and four aces and four blocks. Daniel Fabikovic added 13 kills and six digs and Jake Read had 12 kills and five digs.
 
UH pulled away in both Sets 1 and 3 while the Ramblers squeaked out wins by a combined five points in Sets 2 and 4.
 
In the fifth set, the Warriors raced out to a 12-7 lead, scoring four unanswered capped by a monster block by Keoni Thiim. But the Ramblers answered back with five straight to tie the score at 12. The teams traded side-outs until Loyola's jumped ahead after a kill by Read to make it 14-13. After a UH timeout, Van Buren and Jimmy Meinhart teamed up to stuff Chakas.
 
UH will next host a two-match series against Emmanuel, Wednesday, Jan. 10 and Friday, Jan. 12 at SimpliFi Arena.