In a nonconference volleyball match that sometimes was not aesthetically pleasing, Hawaii put away pesky Hope International 25-12, 21-25, 25-10, 25-17 in the Stan Sheriff Center on Saturday night.

The big picture was that the Warriors seized sole possession of first place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation following UC Irvine’s five-set loss to Pepperdine.

With the nation’s top three teams — Loyola, Lewis and UC Irvine — suffering defeats this week, will the fourth-ranked Warriors ascend to No. 1 when the new poll is released Monday?

"There certainly can be an argument," UH coach Charlie Wade said. "As crazy as this week was with teams losing, I think the first-place votes will be spread out among a number of teams."

Setter Jennings Franciskovic said being in the middle of the Pacific Ocean "we’re out of sight, out of mind. But i feel we’re opening some eyes. I honestly don’t think we’ll be No. 1 overall, but it’ll be a nice surprise if we are."

The Warriors, who are 15-3 overall and 12-2 in the MPSF, have a bye next weekend and do not resume league competition until March 27, when they begin a road trip of four matches in five nights against UC San Diego and UCLA. With the fewest league losses among the 12 MPSF members, the Warriors could stand pat atop the standings for at least another 12 days.

"It’s good a lot of the guys don’t talk about (the standings)," UH middle Taylor Averill said. "It shows we’re focused. We’re here to win game by game."

The Warriors dominated in a three-set victory over Hope on Friday night. In Saturday’s rematch, the Warriors easily won the first set.

In the second set, they pulled every starter but outside hitter Scott Hartley, who moved from the ball-control position to pin attacker, and appeared to be out of rhythm. The Royals raced to a 14-6 lead and, despite UH opposite Ryan Leung’s surge of kills, took the second set.

In practices this season, the reserves — known as the B side — often win scrimmage-like sessions against the starters.

"They can beat any team in the country," opposite Brook Sedore said of the B-side players.

But on this night, the reserves struggled with their passes, defense and block.

"The B side got off to a slow start, and then they started to press a little bit," Wade said. "That was the only hiccup, really,"

The UH starters reunited for the third set. In the fourth, Leung and outside hitter Kupono Fey started in place of Sedore and Siki Zarkovic.

Averill and Sedore each were error-free with their attacks.

"A team like that," Franciskovic said of the Hope, "has two 6-4 middles against the best middle in the country. You know (Averill) is going to post some big numbers."

Averill, who is 6 feet 7 and can hit out of the back row, finished with 11 kills in 13 swings and hit .846. He also assisted on three of the Warriors’ eight blocks.

NO. 4 HAWAII DEF. HOPE INTERNATIONAL 25-12, 21-25, 25-10, 25-17

Service Aces — Hope International 6 (Blonski 3, Beatty 2, Meyer). Hawaii 3 (Averill, Franciskovic, Sedore). Service errors — Hope International 11 (Blonski 4, Meyer 3, Greene 2, Beatty, Deloney). Hawaii 11 (Sedore 3, Averill 2, Hartley 2, Fey, Franciskovic, Leung, Zarkovic). Assists — Hope International 33 (Beatty 27, Heirakuji 3, Blonski 2, Meyer). Hawaii 52 (Franciskovic 33, Jones 13, Hartley 3,?Averill 2, Kanetake). T — 1:43. A — NA. Referees — Dan Hironaka, Sam Montalvo.