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Senior hitter Siki Zarkovic put down 14 kills and freshman Stijn van Tilburg added 12, but it was not enough as No. 5 Hawaii was swept by No. 12 Pepperdine 25-20, 25-20, 25-22 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation volleyball opener for both teams tonight in Malibu, Calif.
The Rainbow Warriors (5-1, 0-1 MPSF) had no answer for Waves senior opposite Matt Tarantino, who put down 13 kills with no errors on 16 attempts. Pepperdine (2-0, 1-0) outblocked Hawaii 11-2, with senior middle Tommy Carmody in on eight.
The Waves also had eight aces to the Warriors’ three, including five in Set 3. After Hawaii had taken a 22-21 lead, junior middle Mitchell Penning had two aces in Pepperdine’s 4-0 closing run.
The teams meet again Saturday in Firestone Fieldhouse. First serve is 5 p.m. Hawaii time.
UH will win Saturday’s match.