Box Score
MALIBU, Calif. – The tables were turned in the rematch of the University of Hawai'i and Pepperdine men's volleyball match Saturday night at Firestone Fieldhouse. One night after the second-ranked Waves won in straight sets, the Warriors took the rematch in three straight, 30-21, 34-32, 30-24.
Entering the match, the Waves were tied for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation lead with Stanford with identical 11-4 league marks. The eighth-ranked Warriors were fifth at 10-7.
Opposite
Jonas Umlauft led the Warriors (15-8, 11-7 MPSF) with 21 kills and hit a blistering .429. Middle blocker
Matthew Rawson added nine kills and a team-high eight blocks while fellow middle
Steven Grgas was 7-for-11 with no errors and a .636 hitting percentage. Outside hitter
Steven Hunt posted seven kills, seven digs, and three blocks. Libero
Ric Cervantes had a match-high 12 digs.
The Waves (13-6, 11-5) were led by Cory Reicks' 14 kills while J.D. Schleppenbach added 13.
UH hit .367 compared to .195 for Pepperdine and won the blocking battle, 14-to-9, both of which went in the Waves' favor a night earlier.
The Warriors dominated Set 1 and used a 7-0 run midway through for a 15-7 lead with setter
Nejc Zemljak at the service line. Moments later, UH pushed its lead to 21-11 and would not look back for a 30-21 victory.
The Waves grabbed its first lead of the match at 9-8 in the second set. Both teams traded points for much of the game until the Warriors took a 27-24 cushion after a Schleppenbach hitting error. However, four straight Pepperdine points during a 5-1 run gave the Waves set point at 29-28. UH fended off two set points and on its third serve for the game, the Warriors took advantage of another hitting error by Schleppenbach for the 34-32 win.
In Set 3, back-to-back kills by Tyler Jaynes and a Walker hitting error gave the Waves an 8-5 lead. UH tied it at 11 with three straight points of their own and surged ahead 15-14 with another string of three consecutive points. From there, the Warriors took control with a 7-2 run sparked by three Umlauft kills for a 22-17 lead. After a pair of Pepperdine points, UH put together a 5-2 run for a 27-21 lead and ended it with Umlauft's 21st kill.
For the third consecutive road series, UH rebounded with a victory on the second night. The Warriors lost the first of two matches to Cal State Northridge and USC before winning the rematch. Hawai'i returns to the Stan Sheriff Center where it hosts UC San Diego, Friday, April 2 and Saturday, April 3.
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