HONOLULU – The third-ranked University of Hawai'i men's volleyball continued its winning ways with a straight-set victory over Missouri S&T, Thursday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. Set scores were 25-12, 25-12, 25-20.
The Rainbow Warriors (11-1) extended their season win streak to 10 matches while also winning for the 35
th consecutive time in the month of February dating back to 2019. UH also won for the eighth time in straight sets this season.
In the first-ever meeting between the programs, UH dominated the first two sets, hitting at a .676 clip with nine blocks before emptying the bench in the third set.
Alaka'i Todd led the way with 15 kills, hitting .667 with only one error in 21 attempts. His only error was on a three-meter violation.
Keoni Thiim started in place of
Spyros Chakas and finished with nine kills, three digs, and three blocks.
Chaz Galloway added seven kills and two blocks in just two sets played. Middle blocker
Kurt Nusterer posted a team-high five blocks.
UH finished with 10 team blocks and four aces and held MST to .053 hitting.
The Miners (8-7) were led by Aaron Sallade's six kills.
In Set 1, UH used a 7-2 run for a 12-5 lead. The lead was eight at 15-7 after consecutive Warrior blocks and the Miners would not threaten the rest of the way. Hawai'i tallied 7.5 blocks in the frame and held MST to -.045 hitting.
Hawai'i scored the first five points of Set 2 and led 15-5 after a 6-1 run. UH went on to hit .750 in the set with Todd and Galloway combining for nine kills.
The Miners shows some life in the third set, scoring five straight points to pull within one at 9-8. MST took the lead at 13-12 after scoring four straight led for the final time at 18-17. An ace by
Louis Sakanoko gave UH the lead back and three straight Miners errors put UH ahead 22-19.
The teams play again on Friday at 7:00 p.m.
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