IRVINE, Calif. – The second-ranked University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team displayed championship grit Friday night, rallying from a 2-1 deficit to defeat No. 5 UC Irvine in a five-set marathon (25-22, 19-25, 23-25, 25-23, 18-16) at the Bren Events Center.
The victory extended the Rainbow Warriors' perfect road record to 8-0 and improved their Big West mark to 5-0 at the halfway point of the conference schedule. UH continued its dominance over the Anteaters in Irvine, winning for the 10th in its last 11 trips to the Bren Center.
Hawai'i (22-3, 5-0 BWC) was led by a balanced offensive attack with
Tread Rosenthal orchestrating the comeback. The junior fell one kill shy of a triple-double with 53 assists, 10 digs, and nine kills along with a team-high six blocks.
Kristian Titriyski had a team-high 16 kills and two aces while
Louis Sakanoko also reached double digits with 14 kills, hitting .367, with seven digs and one big block near the end of the fifth set.
Adrien Roure struggled to find his offensive rhythm all match long but still posted 12 kills and 11 digs for his first double-double of the season and second of his career.
In the middle,
Trevell Jordan hammered 12 kills on 16 swings with no errors for a blistering .750 hitting percentage while adding four blocks and
Justin Todd added six kills and six blocks.
UH hit .325 for the match with 10.5 total team blocks compared to .304 and 8.0, respectively, for the Anteaters. UCI (15-4, 3-2) was led by Andrej Jokanovic with a match-high 22 kills and William D'Arcy with 14 kills.
The opening set saw UH take a 10-7 lead after a triple block, but UCI responded with a five-point run. The Warriors battled back to tie it at 13 and retook the lead at 17-15 following consecutive Jordan kills and a Titriyski ace. Late aces by
Kainoa Wade and a UCI attack error eventually secured the set for Hawai'i 25-22.
UC Irvine took control in the second set, jumping out to a 14-9 lead. Despite a Jordan overpass kill that cut the deficit to two at 17-15, the Anteaters hit .419 in the frame with only one error to even the match with a 25-19 win. In the third set, UH led 23-22, but UCI's Micah Goss recorded a block and a kill to spark a 3-0 closing run, giving the Anteaters a 2-1 match lead with a 25-23 victory.
Facing their first road loss of the year, the Warriors responded in Set 4. Trailing early, Jordan's 10
th kill tied the frame at 10-10. After falling behind 15-12, UH used a 5-1 run to retake the lead. A critical Jordan-Rosenthal double block and back-to-back kills from Todd sealed the 25-23 win to force a decider.
The fifth set was a dramatic back-and-forth affair. UH led 4-1 early and held an 8-5 lead at the turn, but the Anteaters scored five straight points to take an 11-8 lead. Hawai'i tied the score at 13-13 and eventually fought off multiple UCI threats. On their fourth match point, the Rainbow Warriors finally ended the match at 18-16 following a UC Irvine attack error.
The two teams will meet for a rematch on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. PT at the Bren Events Center.
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