HONOLULU – The third-ranked University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team brought out the brooms in a straight-set win over Lindenwood Wednesday in the first of two non-conference matches at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. Set scores were 25-13, 25-20, 27-25.
The Rainbow Warriors (16-1) used 14 players in the match including senior middle blocker
Zachary Thompson, who saw his first action of the season. Outside hitter
Clay Wieter, who spent four seasons at Lindenwood before transferring to UH in the fall, got the start against for former team and finished with eight kills in 14 errorless attempts and hit .571. He also had two aces, four digs, two blocks and recorded the match-winning kill.
As a team, Hawai'i hit .522 for the match and also tallied five aces and 9.5 blocks.
Justin Todd had a career-high 11 kills, hitting .714 along with two aces and five blocks.
Kristian Titriyski had eight kills, hitting .583 in two sets of action.
The Lions (4-10) was led by Brandan Louthain's 10 kills.
In the first meeting between the teams since 2017, the Warriors jumped out to a 10-2 lead in Set 1. Hawai'i went on to hit .778 in the frame with 14 kills in 18 errorless attempts. Wieter led the way with four kills in five swings.
The Lions led 3-0 to start Set 2 and maintained a lead until Wieter's second ace put UH on top 14-13. The Warriors then reeled off four straight which included a kill and two blocks by Todd for an 18-14 lead. Hawai'i went on to record three aces and three blocks in the set to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Lindenwood kept it close again in Set 3, leading 20-18 after a UH attack error. The Warriors went ahead 23-22 after a Lion attack error and on their third match-point Wieter ended. It.
The two teams meet again on Friday at 7:00 p.m. at SimpliFi Arena.
#HawaiiMVB
