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JAMM AQUINO
Hawaii setter Jennings Franciskovic (10) sets up a kill attempt for middle blocker Taylor Averill (13) in the third set of a men's college volleyball game between the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and the Hope International Royals on Saturday, March 14, 2015 at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The Hawaii men’s volleyball team, sitting atop the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation standings, now is sitting atop the national rankings.
The Rainbow Warriors (17-3, 12-2 MPSF) received nine first-place votes to jump three spots into first place in Monday’s AVCA Coaches Top 15 poll. Hawaii has won its last 10 and is a half-game ahead of UC Irvine (18-4, 12-3).
It is the 25th time that the Rainbow Warriors have been ranked No. 1. The last time was the Feb. 24, 2004, poll.
The Anteaters dropped two spots to No. 5 following their loss to Pepperdine on Saturday. The Waves (14-4, 10-4), rebounding from two losses to Hawaii the previous week, moved up a spot to No. 4.
The Rainbow Warriors vaulted over the three teams ranked ahead of them in last Monday’s poll helped by what transpired last week. Besides Pepperdine’s five-set win over UCI, previous No. 1 Loyola-Chicago lost its first match of the season to then-No. 2 Lewis and Lewis then lost to No. 11 Ohio State.
Loyola-Chicago received six first-place votes, dropping to No. 2. Lewis received two votes, falling to No. 3. UCI got the final first-place vote.
Hawaii has a bye week then plays four matches in five days on the road, beginning with UC San Diego March 27 and 28 and No. 12 UCLA March 30 and 31.
