Box Score
LOS ANGELES – The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team concluded a brutal four-match road trip with a 32-30, 27-30, 30-18, 30-27 victory over No. 7 USC Tuesday night in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match at the Galen Center.
The Warriors (12-7, 8-6 MPSF) concluded the four-match, five-day road trip by splitting the two two-match series with Cal State Northridge and USC. The victory on Tuesday kept UH within two losses behind league leaders Stanford (10-4) and Pepperdine (9-4).
Hawai'i was led by opposite
Jonas Umlauft (25 kills, 9 digs, 3 blocks) and outside hitter
Joshua Walker (22 kills, 9 digs, 3 blocks). Walker also added two service aces and hit .326. Outside hitter
Steven Hunt posted his third career double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs while middle blocker
Steven Grgas had seven kills, with no errors, in 12 swings. Setter
Nejc Zemljak recorded a career-high 19 digs while dishing out 59 assists.
For the Trojans (10-7, 8-6), Tony Ciarelli (21 kills) and Murphy Troy (20) provided most of the offense. However, unlike the previous night, in which USC rallied from a 1-0 deficit for a four-set victory, the Trojans could not get anything going in Sets 3 and 4.
The Warriors won a close first set, 32-30 after stuffing Troy on set point. But the Trojans rallied in Set 2, taking a 10-6 advantage and held on to the lead until UH caught them at 24-24. Consecutive USC kills and an ace by Clay Knapp gave the Trojans a 27-24 lead.
Hawai'i stormed out to a 7-1 lead in Set 3 behind three kills by Walker. USC pulled to within one at 12-11 but a 5-0 run gave the Warriors a comfortable 17-11 cushion. Three straight Trojan hitting errors gave UH a 30-18 victory.
In Set 4, USC jumped out to a 7-3 lead and held a 15-12 advantage before the Warriors made their comeback. UH scored six straight points fueled by three USC hitting errors and maintained a lead until the Trojans tied it at 26. The Warriors scored on consecutive kills by Rawson and Umlauft and blocked Ciarelli for match point. UH ended it with Umlauft's 25th kill.
The Warriors return to Honolulu to host Long Beach State, Friday, March 19 and Saturday, March 20 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
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