UCLA carved out a three-set sweep of Hawaii in the Wooden Center on Friday night.

"Obviously, there were two sets that were deuce sets that could have gone either way," UCLA coach John Speraw said after his team’s 26-24, 25-17, 25-23 victory. "To get both of them and be able to come out with a 3-0 win, I consider ourselves to be fortunate."

In the opening set, the Bruins constructed a 21-17 lead before the Warriors rallied. UH middle Taylor Averill, who once took a recruiting visit to UCLA, tied it at 24 with a kill.

But the Warriors’ nemesis — UCLA outside hitter Gonzalo Quirego — gave the Bruins the lead with a crossing shot. Then UH left-side hitter JP Marks hit wide to give the Bruins the first set.

In the third set, the Warriors closed to 24-23 on UCLA opposite Robert Page’s all-net serve.

The Warriors’ best server, Brook Sedore, then went behind the service line. But the Warriors could not capitalize. Joby Ramos’ errant set gave the Bruins match point.

"I think Hawaii, with its great service game, has the ability to make comebacks," Speraw said. "I think we were able to weather the storm a little bit."

For one night, the Bruins were able to find an offensive rhythm. Speraw, a former Bruins player and assistant coach, won two national championships as UC Irvine’s head coach. The Anteaters ran one of the nation’s quickest perimeter attacks. Speraw succeeded his mentor, Al Scates, who retired after 50 years and 19 national titles at UCLA. In recent years, Scates’ offenses relied heavily on a quick-middle attack.

Speraw has been trying to revive the Bruins’ middle offense this year. But the Warriors’ tough serves limited the Bruins’ ability to feed the middle. Instead, they relied on perimeter hitters Quirego and Page. Quirego, one of the craftiest hitters, was able to tool the Warriors’ block. Page, at 7 feet, made the most of fast and high sets. Each had 11 kills.

Left-side hitter Dane Worley contributed eight kills for the Bruins.

Of the 80 attempts, the UCLA middles took only nine swings. Spencer Rowe had four kills (no errors) in six swings.

Hawaii’s offense was evenly distributed, with the three UH starting outside hitters each receiving more than 20 sets. Sedore had 11 kills. Marks and Siki Zarkovic each had eight kills. Middle hitter Davis Holt had six kills in 12 swings.

The Bruins improved to 4-8 overall and 5-5 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The Warriors fell to 4-8 and 3-6.

The rematch is tonight in Pauley Pavilion.