HONOLULU – The third-ranked University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team dominated No. 1-ranked Grand Canyon in straight sets Friday on the second day of the OUTRIGGER Invitational at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. Set scores were 25-17, 25-20, 25-20.
The Rainbow Warriors (16-1) played their best volleyball of the season and handed the previously unbeaten Grand Canyon (15-2) it season straight loss in the tournament. UH not only extended its win streak to 15 matches but won its seventh consecutive match in straight sets and stretched its set win streak to 24.
Hawai'i will look to capture its 11
th all-time OUTRIGGER Invitational title against UC Irvine on Sunday. The Anteaters lost to 14
th-ranked Lewis in five sets in Friday's first match.
In front of a boisterous crowd of over 8,000, the Warriors controlled the serve-receive game recording eight aces to GCU's one. UH's service pressure also helped generate 11 team blocks, including six by middle blocker
Kurt Nusterer, who also led the team with three aces.
As a team, Hawai'i hit .449 for the match.
Spyros Chakas posted a team-high 14 kills along with eight digs and two aces.
Alaka'i Todd added 11 kills on .692 hitting with two aces and three blocks while
Chaz Galloway had seven kills and five blocks.
Camden Gianni recorded a match-high 16 kills to the lead the Lopes.
In Set 1, UH jumped out to an 11-5 lead after Nusterer's ace. Todd's ace made it 18-9 and the Lopes would only get within five the rest of the way. Hawai'i hit .261 with two aces and five blocks in the set.
The Warriors used a 5-1 run for a 9-7 lead in Set 2. Moments later, UH reeled off four straight for a 16-12 advantage. The Lopes cut it to one but Hawai'i scored three straight including solo block by Voss to make it 21-17.
Nusterer served consecutive aces for a 12-8 lead in Set 3. Chakas' backrow kill and ace on consecutive plays gave UH a 16-10 lead and all but put away the match.
In the opening match of the day, Lewis rallied past UCI, 22-25, 25-19, 18-25, 25-20, 15-11. Daniel Haber led the Flyers (11-9) with 17 kills while Hilir Henno had a match-high 24 kills for the Anteaters (13-5).
Sunday's action begins at 2:00 p.m. with Grand Canyon versus Lewis followed at 5:00 p.m. with Hawai'i and UC Irvine.
#HawaiiMVB
