Unbeaten UH wins 2, but not title

All 14 players, 141 minutes, two sweeps to remain undefeated and two all-tournament selections. The numbers more than added up for No. 4 Hawaii on Sunday’s final day of Off the Block’s Grow the Game Challenge in Nashville, Tenn.

The inaugural men’s volleyball tournament at Lipscomb’s Allen Arena saw the Rainbow Warriors play the final two matches of the three-day, 10-team event and run their record to 6-0 with two straight-set sweeps. Junior hitter Stijn van Tilburg put down 14 kills and sophomore opposite Rado Parapunov added 10 in the 25-20, 25-21, 25-20, 73-minute sweep of No. 13 Grand Canyon in Sunday’s first match.

In the tournament finale, it was sophomore opposite Brandon Rattray and sophomore hitter Colton Cowell making the most of their first career starts, putting down 14 and 11 kills, respectively in the 25-18, 25-13, 25-15 68-minute sweep of Lincoln Memorial.

Hawaii and Lindenwood both finished at 3-0 but the Lions took home the championship trophy based on point differential. The Lions did not drop a set, finishing at plus-65, while the Warriors, who dropped a set to Barton on Saturday, finished at plus-28.

Both Hawaii and Lindenwood had two selections on the nine-member all-tournament team. The Warriors honored were junior setter Joe Worsley, who had 40 assists and had UH hitting .409 against Grand Canyon, and van Tilburg, who hit .407 against GCU and .583 in limited playing time against Barton on Saturday.

The MVP will be decided via online voting, which closes at 6 p.m. today HST at offtheblockblog.com.

In Sunday’s first match, the Warriors had six of their eight blocks in Set 1, three in a 6-1 run that gave Hawaii a 21-16 lead. Van Tilburg had eight kills in Set 2 to help the Warriors go up 2-0, and Worsley had one of his career-high five kills to push Hawaii out to a 22-17 lead in Set 3.

Senior hitter Shalev Saada led the Antelopes (5-1) with 12 kills. Senior setter Puna Kaniho (Kamehameha) had 34 assists; senior hitter Cullen Mosher (Kamehameha) had two kills, an ace and two blocks, and senior libero Sky Engleman (Moanalua) had six digs. A fourth player with Hawaii ties, freshman libero Avery Enriques (Kamehameha-Hawaii) did not play.

Against the Railsplitters — a second-year independent program — the Warriors were able to give the remaining freshman setter Jackson Van Eekeren substantial playing time (18 assists, 2 aces, 3 blocks), subbing for Worsley with an 8-3 lead in Set 2. Hawaii also used junior Mamane Namahoe at libero, moving senior libero Tui Tuileta to outside (4 kills). With freshman Matt Larson replacing sophomore Patrick Gasman at middle in Set 2, the Warriors had giving all 14 on the travel roster playing time.

Rattray finished with a career-high 14 kills along with eight digs and four blocks, and Cowell posted 11 kills, four digs, and two aces against Lincoln Memorial. The Railsplitters were led by sophomore opposite Evan Cory’s 11 kills and 6 digs.