In a marathon volleyball match, it was a late surge that boosted USC to a 30-28, 17-25, 18-25, 25-18, 20-18 victory over Hawaii.

A crowd of 3,517 — the largest to watch a men’s volleyball in the Stan Sheriff Center this year — was left in stunned disappointment when Alex Slaught powered a kill off the Rainbow Warriors’ Scott Hartley for match point.

"They’re a good team," said UH opposite Brook Sedore, who pounded a match-high 20 kills and hit .357. "There’s a reason they’re No. 2."

It was the second five-set outcome in this two-match series, and the Warriors were poised for a hana hou of Wednesday night’s upset. After dropping the first set, the Warriors dominated the next two. They were on such a roll that middle blocker Taylor Averill slammed two pipe sets, Jennings Franciskovic was outplaying U.S. national team setter Micah Christenson, and UH libero Kolby Kanetake had a flat-footed kill on a free-ball swing from behind the 3-meter line.

But the Trojans controlled the fourth set.

In the fifth, the Warriors raced to leads of 6-3, 10-6 and, following Sedore’s second-consecutive kill of a D set, 13-10.

"We were down 7-2 against Irvine a couple of weeks ago," USC coach Bill Ferguson recalled thinking. "We have a mantra where we go, ‘moment by moment,’ and ‘point by point.’ "

As a point of emphasis, Ferguson raises his right index finger after every point.

"That shows we’re focusing on the next point," Ferguson said. "Our guys stick with it. They always believe."

The Trojans scored the next four points, with Christian Rivera tying it on a line shot, and taking a 14-13 lead when UH middle Davis Holt’s spike did not clear the net.

The match would be tied five more times, the last at 18.

Hartley then soared from behind the 3-meter line and rocketed a shot that landed long, setting up yet another match point for the Trojans.

Slaught, who was aced twice early in the match, offered the parting shot on a bic swing that Hartley could not handle.

Hartley was despondent after the match, saying, "All I want to say is when it came down to making a play, I had the opportunity to finish a game, and I chose not to be aggressive, and that’s not the way to win a game. When you want to win a game, you have to hit your serve hard, you have to get the right block. There’s no room for tips, no room for passive play."

Despite the self-criticism, Hartley had a strong performance, amassing a career-high five kills, sizzling three aces and contributing to back-to-back blocks in the fifth set.

But the Trojans’ serves forced the Warriors out of rhythm at key times. One of the results was UH All-America middle Taylor Averill was rarely set in the final two sets.

"We didn’t pass the ball enough to set Sunny," Hartley said of Averill. "Sunny will help us win a game, and we didn’t pass him enough."

Of UH’s short week, UH coach Charlie Wade said: "It looked like we didn’t have much practice, and we didn’t. Overall, our (serve-) reception skills were not sharp. We let the platform lead. That’s a practice-gym issue. We’ll figure it out."

Averill finished with 12 kills.

Christopher Orenic led the Trojans with 17 kills.

USC tried several combinations, summoning Punahou graduate Larry Tuileta and Rivera as pin hitters.

But in the fifth set, the Trojans opted not to replace middle Andy Benesh as a server. The usual strategy is to use a better back-row defender as a server. But Ferguson said he believed Benesh’s float serves would put more pressure on the Warriors.

"He’s really good at placing the ball," Ferguson said.

Ferguson was the server when the Trojans moved from a 13-11 deficit to a 14-13 lead in the fifth set.

Setter Micah Christenson guided the Trojans to hit .480 in the fifth after they were below .200 through the first four sets.

"This is a phenomenal group," Ferguson said. "They’re mentally tough. They’re a fun group to work with."

Christenson had five aces and 17 digs.

Friday

USC def. Hawaii 30-28, 17-25, 18-25, 25-18, 20-18

Pepperdine def. Stanford 21-25, 25-22, 25-15, 25-14

UCLA def.  CSUN 25-17, 17-25, 25-18, 25-16

UC Santa Barbara def. Long Beach State 25-20, 23-25, 25-23, 25-22

BYU def. Cal Baptist 23-25, 25-18, 25-10, 25-15

Concordia def. UC San Diego 25-22, 

25-19, 25-17 (non-conference)

Saturday

UC Irvine at UC San Diego

Cal Baptist at BYU

Stanford at Concordia

No. 2 USC def. No. 6 HAWAII 

30-28, 17-25, 18-25, 25-18, 20-18

Key — s: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct: hitting percentage; d: digs; bs: block solo; ba: block assists; pts: points (kills plus blocks plus aces). Service Aces — USC 9 (Christenson 5, Orenic 3, Slaught). Hawaii 9 (Sedore 4, Hartley 3, Averill, Franciskovic). Service errors — USC 19 (Feathers 5, Christenson 4,Orenic 4, Slaught 4, Rivera 2). Hawaii 19 (Sedore 6, Averill 3, Franciskovic 3, Hartley 2, Fey 2, Mol 2, Holt). Assists — USC 55 (Christenson 47, Varni 5, Benesh 2, Tuileta). Hawaii 57 (Franciskovic 50, Kanetake 3, Fey  2, Averill, Sedore). T — 2:52. A — 3,517. Referees — Bill Forrester, Ernie Ho.