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JAMES DECAMP / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER
Hawaii’s Kupono Fey hit the ball against Penn State’s Aidan Albrecht and Kevin Gear in set 1of the opening round of the 2017 NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship today in St. John Arena on the Ohio State University campus in Columbus, Ohio.
COLUMBUS, Ohio >> Sophomore opposite Stijn van Tilburg put down 20 kills and fourth-seeded Hawaii rallied to top fifth-seeded Penn State 23-25, 27-25, 17-25, 25-14, 15-4 in tonight’s NCAA championship tournament play-in match at Ohio State’s St. John Arena.
Sophomore hitter Brett Rosenmeier added 13 kills and the Rainbow Warriors (27-5) outblocked the Nittany Lions 17.5-11. The win puts Hawaii into Thursday’s semifinals against top-seeded host Ohio State (30-2).
Calvin Mende led Penn State (21-11) with 18 kills.
Freshman Patrick Gasman had seven of Hawaii’s blocks and van Tilburg and Rosenmeier were in on six each. Libero Tui Tuileta had 10 of the Warriors’ 39 digs.
In today’s first match, Brigham Young swept Barton 25-19, 25-11, 25-15. The Cougars will take on Long Beach State in Thursday’s first semifinal.
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