HONOLULU – The No. 2 University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team saw its 14-match home win streak come to an end to No. 18 CSUN, Saturday in a Big West match-up at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. Set scores were 25-23, 25-16, 22-25, 25-21.
The Rainbow Warriors (18-4, 1-3 BWC) lost for the first time at home since the season-opening series to Loyola Chicago. In addition, UH suffered its first home loss to CSUN since 2013 and saw its nine-match win streak over the Matadors came to an end.
Freshman sensation
Louis Sakanoko led UH with 19 kills, hitting .324 with nine digs and three blocks. Twelve of his kills came in Sets 2 and 3 while sparking a Rainbow Warriors comeback after trailing the match 2-0.
Alaka'i Todd added 12 kills, four digs and three blocks.
As a team, Hawai'i hit .240 for the match with six aces and 10.5 blocks.
CSUN (10-11, 1-3) hit .387 for the match with five aces and 11.5 total blocks. Three Matadors hit for double-figure kills led by Jalen Phillips' 17 kills on .355 hitting. Griffin Walters tallied 15 kills, hitting .379 while Kyle Hobus added 11 kills, two aces and six blocks. Nir Eitan led the Matadors with seven blocks.
In Set 1, the Matadors reeled off three straight points for a 17-14 advantage. UH responded with back-to-back points but from there, CSUN managed to side-out the rest of the way and hit .560 for the set with 4.5 blocks.
CSUN jumped all over the Warriors in Set 2, using a 7-1 run to take a 14-8 lead. The Matadors would not let up, hitting .480 with another four sets in the set.
UH would not go down without a fight. Sakanoko's seventh kill of the set gave Hawai'i an 18-14 lead. The Matadors pulled within one but the Warriors scored the final two points to send the match to a fourth set.
CSUN's serving in the fourth set put UH on its heels. The Matadors served three aces in the frame and Hawai'i committed seven attack errors. UH trailed by five late and closed within one after a Rosenthal ace made it 20-19. But with a swing to tie the score, Sakanoko failed to clear the net and hit into a block on consecutive plays which all but ended the match. Walters' kill finished off the upset on match point.
Hawai'i closes out its home schedule with a two-match series against No. 20 UC Santa Barbara, Friday, March 29 and Saturday, March 30 at SimpliFi Arena.
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