HONOLULU – The third-ranked University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team outlasted No. 5 UC Irvine in five sets to capture its 11
th OUTRIGGER Invitational title Sunday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. Set scores were 23-25, 25-19, 25-22, 17-25, 15-13.
The Rainbow Warriors (17-1) extended several streaks with the victory including a 16-match overall win streak and 13 straight home contests. UH also won for the 15
th consecutive time over the Anteaters dating back to 2018. However, Hawai'i saw its 24-set win streak come to an end after UCI took the opening set.
Tournament Most Outstanding Player
Spyros Chakas led the Warriors with 17 kills but the senior went down late in the fifth set with an apparent injury. Hawai'i led 14-12 at the time but still managed to secure the victory after a kill by
Guilherme Voss on its fourth attempt at the match. Chakas also recorded eight digs and three blocks.
Voss and
Alaka'i Todd were also named to the all-tournament team. Voss finished the match with eight kills and five blocks while Todd added 13 kills, six digs, and four blocks.
The Anteaters (13-6) nearly pulled off the upset behind the play of Hilir Henno, who recorded a match-high 36 kills, hitting .412. Henno, who finished the tournament with 89 kills in 175 attempts, also added three aces, six digs, and two blocks on Sunday. He along with teammate Max Grigoriev were also named to the all-tournament team. Grigoriev finished the match with nine kills and six blocks.
UCI hit .299 for the match compared to UH's .258 however the Warriors controlled the net, out-blocking the Anteaters, 17 to 10. Hawai'i also had the advantage at the service line with nine aces, including five by serving sensation
Keoni Thiim.
Thiim, who came off the bench but started Sets 2-5, served his fifth ace – a 74-miles per hour bomb – during a 3-0 serving run to start Set 5. The Anteaters pulled within one before the Warriors reeled off four straight, including consecutive blocks by
Kurt Nusterer and
Tread Rosenthal for a 11-6 advantage. The teams traded side-outs before
Tread Rosenthal found the backline on a dump to get UH to match point at 14-10.
From there, things turned sour for the Warriors. Henno's 36
th kill made it 14-11 and on the next point, Chakas was blocked and fell the ground awkwardly. Henno followed with his third ace to erase UH's third match point. But on the very next play, Rosenthal found Voss for the match winner.
Henno was nearly unstoppable all night for the Anteaters. His 12
th kill ended Set 1 and the Warriors' 24-set win streak.
The Warriors responded with an emphatic win in Set 2 and then closed out Set 3 with a 5-2 run. But the Eaters wouldn't go away and dominated the early part of Set 4 with a 9-0 run setting up the dramatic fifth set.
In the first match of the day, top-ranked Grand Canyon reverse-swept Lewis, 23-25, 18-25, 25-17, 25-14, 15-11. Four Lopes recorded double digits in kills including Cameron Thorne who finished with 13 kills, hitting .765, and eight blocks. Max Roquet led the Flyers with 20 kills. Both Thorne and Roquet earned all-tournament team honors.
UH begins Big West play next week with a two-match series at rival Long Beach State, Friday, March 15 and Saturday, March 16 at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, Calif.
#HawaiiMVB
