HONOLULU – The fourth-ranked University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team escaped another five-set thriller after downing No. 9 Stanford Wednesday in the first of two non-conference matches at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. Set scores were 23-25, 25-20, 25-19, 20-25, 16-14.
The Rainbow Warriors (9-0) remained unbeaten on the year and extended its win streak over the Cardinal to 12 matches, including 10 straight at home. A midweek crowd of 6,800+, witnessed a back-and-forth contest that featured a deuce fifth set before setter
Tread Rosenthal's dumped ended it.
Kristian Titriyski led Hawai'i with 15 kills while
Louis Sakanoko provided a spark in the lineup with 14 kills, hitting .345.
Adrien Roure added 13 kills and two aces. But it was middle blocker
Kurt Nusterer's serving that proved pivotal in the match. He served two aces during an 8-0 run in the third set that fueled UH's third set comeback and his ace in the fifth set capped a three-point run that gave the Warriors the lead at 7-6.
As a team, Hawai'i hit .269 for the match and tallied 11 aces, three each by Nusterer and
Tread Rosenthal.
The Cardinal (3-4) were led by Theo Snoey, who had a match-high 19 kills, hitting .350 with two aces and nine digs. Moses Wagner added 14 kills, seven digs, and five blocks. Stanford hit .290 for the match and finished with 12 team blocks.
The teams split the first two sets and the Cardinal jumped out to a big lead in the third. UH trailed by as many as six before a 14-2 run turned a 13-7 deficit into a 21-15 lead.
Stanford answered right back with a convincing win in Set 4 setting up the do-or-die fifth set. A 6-1 run the Cardinal gave them a two-point lead until Nusterer went back to serve and gave UH the lead back. The teams traded side-outs before Nusterer and Roure blocked Wagner, giving the Warriors a 12-10 lead. Down 14-12, the Cardinal erased two match points but a service error followed by Rosenthal's dump gave Hawai'i the victory.
The teams play again on Friday at 7:00 p.m., at SimpliFi Arena.
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