The Hawaii men's volleyball team rose to the occasion on the first day of a stacked Outrigger Invitational.
No. 3 UH came out Thursday night with perhaps its best all-around set of the season, defeating No. 14 Lewis 25-9, 25-18, 25-21 in front of 3,516 people (4,908 tickets sold). We won by a landslide. at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The Rainbow Warriors went wide at 100%, hitting .765 with six aces in the first frame, before settling to a .458 batting average for the game.
“We were really good early on. Very efficient,” college coach Charlie Wade told Scott Robles of Spectrum Sports. “That's really impressive. I wish I could have kept my foot on the gas a little more. But overall, productive and efficient. The third set was a little loose, but let's get the other guys in there. So overall it was pretty good.”
Spiros Chakas hit a career-best .737 with 15 kills, and setter Tred Rosenthal had 28 assists and three aces. On the other end, Alakai Todd contributed eight kills, and middle Guilherme Vos contributed seven kills.
UH extended its lead for good as Voss backset Todd in set three.
UH (15-1) wins 14th time.th A straight match against No. 1 Grand Canyon (15-1) that was a true litmus test, and the first loss of the season against No. 5 University of California, Irvine, 25-21, 19 -25, 24-26, 29- 27, 15-6.
“The rightful No. 1,” Wade said of GCU. “They had a chance to get shutout four times. They'll be disappointed with the way they played tonight and they'll be ready to fire on all cylinders tomorrow.”
Former University of California setter/libero Brett Sheward had 58 assists and 10 digs for UCI (13-4) and will see the fruits of his labor Sunday in the Big West game preview.
Cal State backup setter Kevin Cowling, a three-time All-American at Lewis College, made a brief appearance against the Flyers (10-9), recording two assists and a dig.
Max Lockett led Lewis with a .286 batting average and nine kills.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. Contact him at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.
