Honolulu – The third-ranked University of Hawaii men’s volleyball team passed its final test before next week’s Outrigger Invitational with a straight-set victory over Sacred Heart at Simplify Arena in the Stan Sheriff Center on Sunday. Set scores were 25-17, 25-16, 25-20.
The Rainbow Warriors (14-1) have extended their winning streak to 13 games and will head into the Outrigger Invitational, which will feature three nationally ranked teams, including top-ranked Grand Canyon, No. 5 UC Irvine and No. 14 Lewis. The tournament begins Thursday and continues until Sunday.
UH dominated the service-receiving game with 10 service aces, including four by the setter. tred rosenthal, giving up only two aces to the Pioneers. As a team, the Warriors batted .385 with a total of 6.5 team blocks.
Guilherme Voss She led the team with 10 kills and hit .833 with a team-high four blocks. Alakai Todd Added 7 kills, 4 blocks, 3 digs, and 1 ace. Spiros Chakas She bounced back from her hitting night, recording six kills in two sets of action and hitting .455.
middle blocker Zachary ThompsonThe senior from Pearl City, Oahu made her first career start and had two kills and one block. In addition to his four aces, Rosenthal also had 29 assists, two blocks, and four digs.
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The Pioneers (6-11) were led by Patrick Mucherino, who had 12 kills and three blocks. Ryan Benscoter added five kills and five blocks.
UH took an 8-4 lead in the first set with two kills from Thompson and an ace from Todd. They extended their lead to eight points at 18-10 and hit .375 in the set.
The Pioneers took an early lead at 6-3 in the second set. But the Warriors used an 11-1 run, including nine consecutive hits on Rosenthal's serve, to regain a 16-8 lead and never looked back. UH hit .450 in the set and had four aces.
With a new lineup, UH went on a 4-0 run in the third set to take a 10-6 lead. The Pioneers were tied at 17 after a 6-1 run. Kurt Nasterer's The ace's performance gave the Warriors a 20-19 lead, and another ace on the service turn made it 23-19.
The Warriors have won the Outrigger Invitational 10 times, most recently in 2019 and 2020. The Grand Canyon makes its first appearance. Lewis has competed in the past seven tournaments but will be aiming for his first title. UC Irvine won his 2015 Outrigger and competed in 2020 as well.
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