When times were difficult Saturday night, the Hawaii volleyball team had a favorite response: Stick a pin in it.

Led by pin hitters Steven Hunt and Taylor Averill, the Warriors battled their way to a 25-21, 27-29, 25-16, 25-21 victory over Grand Canyon before 1,568 in the Stan Sheriff Center. The Warriors won consecutive matches for the first time this season to improve to 4-5.

Grand Canyon, in its fourth season of competition, fell to 5-5.

The Warriors had struggled in a five-set victory between the teams Thursday night, and there were hints the inconsistency would carry over into the rematch.

In the second set, the Warriors raced to a 24-21 lead, and were serving for a 2-0 advantage. But the Antelopes produced three consecutive blocks to tie it at 24, then won the set in extra play.

During the 10-minute intermission, UH head coach Charlie Wade decided to change strategies. He altered the rotation, flip-flopping middle blockers Nick West and Jarrod Lofy.

"It was a little different matchup," Wade said. "Steven (Hunt) was having a nice night. We tried to get Steven and (middle blocker) Nick (West) matched up against different blockers."

The tactic worked, freeing Hunt to attack from several points. And Hunt opened up his repertoire. In the first two sets, the Antelopes placed a defender along the sideline to absorb Hunt’s line shots. Hunt responded by launching crossing shots and looping roll shots over double blocks. He also added five kills from behind the 3-meter mark, including a blazer off a D set from the back right.

"When he’s that good," Wade said of Hunt, "he’s fun to watch."

Hunted finished with 21 kills in 44 swings, hitting .364.

Averill’s success in these two nonconference matches likely earned him the starting opposite attacker’s job.

Averill, who also trains as a setter and middle blocker, opened at opposite. He put down 12 kills. And although he hit only .200, he made 10 digs, contributed to seven of the Warriors’ 15.5 blocks, and served an ace.

"He has a blocking presence, for sure," Wade said. "When he gets his feet to the ball, he is successful. A lot of his errors were when he hit the ball low. He hasn’t had a ton of reps. But as he gets more reps as a hitter, he’ll get better."

West, who had 13 kills and hit .500, credited the pin hitters with leaving the middle open.

"It felt good tonight," West said. "The sets were good. I saw the openings, and took advantage of them. What opened it up was the consistency with the pins. They were threats."

West and Averill both transferred from UC Irvine last summer.

"You can never bury ‘Sunshine,’ West said, referring to Averill’s nickname.

Averill said: "I used to have really long blond hair. It’s medium now. It was a nickname they gave me and it stuck. It’s a good reminder of what I want to represent."