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The opening matches of the first two nights of the Outrigger Invitational were drama-filled, five-set marathon battles that could have gone either way.
After getting the host team on the floor, the only drama is whether everyone in the arena will make it in time to watch the 10 p.m. news.
The No. 3 Rainbow Warriors defeated No. 1 Grand Canyon 25-17, 25-20, 25-20 on Friday night in front of an energetic team, extending their winning streak to a national-best 15 straight wins. Ta. The crowd at SimpliFI Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center was 7,826.
Spyros Chakas had a team-high 14 kills and eight digs, and the Rainbow Warriors dominated in every aspect of the game.
Alakai Todd added 11 kills on 13 swings for a .692 batting average, and Chaz Galloway had seven kills and five blocks.
Hawaii (16-1), which entered the game as the nation's top batting average with a .411 batting average, posted a .449 batting average against the No. 1 team in the country.
University had 11.5 blocks to Lopez's 4.5 and led 8-1 with the aces, while sophomore middle Kurt Nasterer led the way with three blocks.
“It's nice to play against a really good team,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said. “Our defense was really good. It all started with our serve.”
Lopez (15-2) comes to Hawaii riding the nation's longest winning streak. They lost in five sets to the University of California, Irvine on Thursday night, and then suffered a blowout loss to a UW team that had games postponed both nights due to pregame length.
The Rainbow Warriors won all three sets by at least five points, finishing Grand Canyon in one hour and 42 minutes.
“I want to get to the point where I can play as aggressively as I did today, no matter who the opponent is,” Nusterer said. “Seeing the number one in the ranking come into our home, it's obvious that the sense of crisis is increasing little by little.''
After trailing at 8-all in the final set, Nasterer started at 13-4 with back-to-back aces during the service turn to help UH pull away.
Nusterer was one of three Rainbow Warriors who did not miss a serve throughout the match.
He came on as a substitute for Luis Sakanoko at the service turn of the second set, but did not play in the third set.
“I think he was mad that I brought Louis in,” Wade said with a laugh.
Chakas and Todd each added two aces, and Hawaii once again came out hot with their opening serves to set the tone for the night.
Washington State frustrated Lopez in the first set with five blocks, but Lopez fell behind 17-9 on a hitting error from Camen Gianni that hit the side of Wade, so assistant coach Milan Zarkovic playfully jumped off the bench. UH head coach.
Chakas had six digs in the first set and committed 12 errors, including the last one on set point, seven of which were behind the service line as GCU hit .179. .
“When we do well, we can put a lot of pressure on the team. It's not just one person's ability that puts pressure on us, it's about sustaining that pressure,” Wade said.
Neither team led by more than two points in the second set, but Grand Canyon's hitting errors around the media timeout gave UH a 16-12 lead.
Chakas hit a powerful ace from the side of the face of Grand Canyon's Carter Rogers, his fourth ace of the game, giving Hawaii an 11-10 lead.
Hawaii never trailed again in the set, as Chakas scored after Lopez got within 18-17, giving Hawaii a two-point lead.
Two difficult serves by Rosenthal for Grand Canyon led to a kill by Todd and a solo block by Guilherme Fosu, forcing Lopez to take a second timeout.
A service error by Lopez and a double block by Nasterer and Galloway ended the second set, extending UH's streak of consecutive set wins to 23.
Chakas held off match points and Hawaii finished the match hitting .462 in the final set.
“Certainly, when you do that against a really good team, it validates (our offensive numbers),” Wade said. “Right now it's about maintaining that. Can we do this every day, every time we turn on the lights and go outside? That's what ultimately makes us the best team we can be.”
UC concludes the tournament Sunday against UC Irvine at 5 p.m.
No.14 Lewis 3, No.5 UC Irvine 2
Daniel Haber had 17 kills to lead four Flyers in double figures, and Lewis bounced back from a three-game loss Thursday night against Hawaii to lead the Anteeters 22-25, 25-19, 18-25. They won 25-20, 15-11. in the first game on Friday.
Cyber Drolsum had 16 kills and Max Roque had 15 kills and six block assists for the Flyers (11-9), who finished with 12 blocks.
Hilil Henno had a match-high 24 kills and Brett Sheward had a match-high 54 assists and six goals for the Anteeters (13-5), whose winning streak ended at seven.
Henno has 107 kill attempts so far in the tournament.
