Hawaii volleyball team sweeps USC for tourney title
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Hawaii opposite Rado Parapunov (19) puts a kill past USC outside hitter Jack Wyett (20) and middle blocker Tyler Resnick (16) on Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Rado Parapunov put down 16 kills and Stijn van Tilburg 15 as No. 4 Hawaii swept USC 25-12, 25-23, 25-16 tonight for the championship of the Hawaiian Airlines Classic men’s volleyball tournament at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Parapunov and van Tilburg were named to the all-tournament team, with senior setter Joe Worsley named most outstanding player.
A season-high 3,209 watched for 105 minutes as the Rainbow Warriors improved to 3-0. Gianluca Grasso led the Trojans (2-1) with 10 kills.
Grasso also was named to the all-tournament team, along with teammate Ryan Moss, Concordia-Irvine libero Addison Enriques and New Jersey Institute of Technology’s Enrique de Diego Garcia.
In the earlier third-place match, sophomore hitter Alvaro Gimeno put down 15 kills with 14 digs as NJIT outlasted Concordia-Irvine 19-25, 25-23, 15-25, 25-20, 15-8 in a match between two winless teams.
Gimeno added three aces for the Highlanders (1-4). Junior hitter Piotr Namiotko added 14 kills and senior libero Chris Wise (Kamehameha) four digs and a dig-kill.
For the Eagles (0-6), junior hitter Raymond Barsemian finished with a match-high 20 kills and junior hitter Jordan Hoppe 11. Enriques (Kamehameha-Hawaii) had six digs with five assists, and senior setter Pono Kaaa (Punahou) had 16 assists in three sets.
