HONOLULU — The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team recovered from a ragged start to rally past UC Santa Barbara in a four-set victory in the first round of the OUTRIGGER Big West Men's Volleyball Championship on Thursday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
 
UH dropped an opening set for only the second time in 10 matches in the conference tournament and the first time since the 2018 final against Long Beach State. But the Rainbow Warriors regrouped to surge to a 23-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-23 to defeat UCSB for the 19th straight meeting and advance to the semifinal round.
 
The third-seeded and two-time defending tournament champion Rainbow Warriors (23-6) will face No. 2-seed UC Irvine in a semifinal match on Friday at 7 p.m. Big West regular-season champion Long Beach State takes on No. 5-seed CSUN in Friday's first semifinal set for 4:30 p.m.
 
UH won two of three meetings with UC Irvine in the regular season. The Warriors outlasted the Anteaters in five sets on March 10 in the finale of the OUTRIGGER Volleyball Invitational. UH and UCI split their Big West series in Irvine on Apr. 5 and 6.
 
UH opposite Alaka'i Todd helped keep the Warriors' quest for a three-peat alive with 13 kills on .308 hitting in UH's third victory over UCSB this season. Setter Tread Rosenthal distributed 31 assists for a UH attack that hit .379 over the final three sets. The freshman also put down three kills, including match point, popped up nine digs and was in on four blocks.
 
Middle blocker Kurt Nusterer hammered kills on seven of his eight swings without an error. He was also in on four blocks and Guilherme Voss assisted on five of UH's 10 blocks.
 
Outside hitter Keoni Thiim finished with eight kills with one error in 16 attacks to hit .438. Senior Chaz Galloway came off the bench in the second set to add five kills and helped steady UH's passing with 14 serve receptions without an error while contributing six digs and three blocks to the Warriors' defensive effort.

‼️ Semifinals bound!‼️ pic.twitter.com/3ebkbsPDOh

— Hawaii Men's Volleyball (@HawaiiMensVB) April 19, 2024

 
No. 6-seed UC Santa Barbara (9-18) hit .458 in the first set then cooled off to hit .179 over the remainder of the match. The Gauchos finished with 22 attack errors and 28 service errors and fell to UH in the postseason for the fourth straight season.
 
UCSB opposite Geste Bianchi, the Big West's leader in kills per set with 4.88 in the regular season, finished with a match-high 24 kills on 51 swings with eight errors.
 
Voss was the only member of UH starting seven on Thursday to have previous starting experience in a postseason match and the Warriors hit .182 with nine kills and five errors in the opening set.
 
The Warriors remained close with the aid of 10 Gaucho service errors and there were eight ties before UH took its first lead of the match at 18-17. UH errors helped UCSB surge back ahead and the Gauchos' third block of the night gave them set point at 24-21. UH closed to within a point on a kill by Keoni Thiim and an errant UCSB attack, but Bianchi's sixth kill gave the Gauchos the set.
 
UH bounced back to take a 15-11 lead into the second set technical timeout. Protecting a 17-16 lead coming out of a timeout, the Warriors put together a 7-2 run and took a 24-19 lead when Kai Taylor curled in UH's second ace of the set. UCSB's 16^th service error then evened the match at a set apiece.
 
Nusterer hammered two kills, teamed with Rosenthal on a block, and served up an ace in an 8-2 UH run that gave UH a 13-5 lead in the third set. The Warriors hit .474 in the set and ended it with a block by Nusterer and Galloway, who had entered the match midway through the second set and started the third.
 
There were 14 ties and three lead changes in the fourth set when UH edged out to a 19-17 lead on a kill by Thiim and a block by Galloway and Voss. UCSB went on a 3-0 run to move ahead only to see UH answer with a 3-1 surge to take a 22-21 lead. After UCSB tied it again, Rosenthal put down his first kill of the night and Galloway served up an ace to give UH match point at 24-22. UCSB survived for another point before Rosenthal tapped down another kill to send UH to the semifinals.
 
CSUN swept fourth-seeded UC San Diego 25-20, 28-26, 25-22 in the opening game of Thursday's first-round doubleheader. Jalen Phillips led the Matadors (13-15) with 15 kills and Griffin Walters put away 12 kills on 17 error-free attempts. CSUN hit .842 (17 kills, one error, 19 attacks) in the third set.