IRVINE, Calif. – The No. 4 University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team saw its six-year dominance of UC Irvine come to an end after a straight-set loss Friday in the first of two Big West matches at the Bren Events Center. Set scores were 25-20, 25-19, 25-21.
 
The Rainbow Warriors (20-5, 3-4 BW) had their 15-match win streak over the Anteaters snapped with their first loss in the series since 2018. In addition, UH suffered its first loss in Irvine since 2015, a span of nine straight wins.
 
The Anteaters (17-7, 6-1) were led by Hilir Henno's match-high 20 kills, hitting .679 with only one error in 28 attacks. As a team, UCI hit .425 for the match while Hawai'i hit .204.
 
Alaka'i Todd had a team-high 12 kills for the Warriors while Keoni Thiim added 10 kills in his ninth start of the season. Thiim also had both of UH's aces. Hawai'i also had only three team blocks for the match, compared to 10 for the Anteaters.
 
UCI jumped ahead early in Set 1 and made it 12-7 after a kill by Connor Campbell. After UH closed to within two, the Anteaters extended the lead back to five at 21-16 after back-to-back kills by Henno. UCI went on to hit .588 in the opening frame with 22 kills. UH hit .452 with 13 kills in 31 errorless attempts.
 
UH took an 8-7 lead in Set 2 after a three-point spur but it was all Anteaters after that. UCI led 18-14 after back-to-back errors by Todd and made it 20-15 after Sakanoko hit into a block. UH committed 12 attack errors in the set and hit -.061 and the Anteaters tallied six of their 10 blocks.
 
UCI raced out to an early lead in Set 3. The lead was 17-10 after a 5-1 run. The Warriors made one last comeback bid and trimmed the deficit to two at 21-19 after consecutive aces by Thiim. But Henno recorded three more kills to close out the match.
 
The teams play again on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. PT (3:00 p.m. HT) at the Bren Events Center.