IRVINE, Calif. >> Hawaii’s second-ranked men’s volleyball team needed to withstand an early endurance test to make history while defeating a fellow national contender in Big West Conference play Friday night.

The Rainbow Warriors held off four set points while needing six of their own in Set 1 before earning their 11th sweep of the season. It took 90 minutes for Hawaii to finish off No. 3 UC Irvine 33-31, 25-19, 25-14 in front of a season-high 1,304 at Bren Events Center.

“That first set was a gut check for us,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said. “We were able to settle down and win that. It was a big part of the match.”

Not only did the Warriors (11-0, 1-0) remain undefeated while ending UCI’s seven-match winning streak, they set program records for consecutive straight-set victories (11) and successive sets won (33). Both previous marks were set in 2017.

“We have the mentality that we have not achieved anything until we get to the finish line,” junior hitter Colton Cowell said. “We prefer to think of the season as a marathon, not a sprint, and we want to keep bringing the same intensity, the same work ethic, the same discipline every night.”

Junior opposite Rado Parapunov finished with a match-high 18 kills, while Cowell played a pivotal role by putting down 11 kills, one off his career high, and asserting his presence late in the dramatic Set 1.

UH built a 12-8 advantage in that set, but the Anteaters (13-3, 2-1) rallied to move ahead 24-22. Then Cowell took control.

His cross-court kill from the left antenna resulted in a sideout that drew the Warriors within one point. Then Cowell’s powerful jump serves got UCI out of system, forcing two hitting errors, as UH took a 25-24 lead.

The Anteaters tied it at 25 and it was knotted six more times, the last at 31-31, before Parapunov’s kill off a block gave Hawaii its sixth set point with Cowell about to serve.

“He generally starts off at the right side and goes cross-court,” Wade said about Cowell’s serving position. “At set point in Set 1, I called him over and told him to go to the other side. He shook me off, at first. Then he tried it.”

Cowell believed he had nothing to lose.

“I thought to myself, ‘At this point, why not?’” the King Kekaulike graduate said. “I was thinking about putting (the ball) into the court at high pace and sort of aim for the middle, for a little bit of a seam, so if I were to mis-contact the ball, I didn’t want it to miss long or into the net.”

Cowell’s hard, sinking, rapidly rotating jump serve hit the court for an ace.

“He absolutely detonated it,” Wade said.

For Parapunov, winning Set 1 provided the turning point for the match.

“Winning this first set was very, very crucial,” said the Bulgarian, who amassed 12 kills in that set. “Basically, it gave us wings. They started making more mistakes than us.”

Those mistakes proved costly. After hitting .263 in Set 1, the Anteaters hit just .192 and .042 in the second and third sets, while the Warriors hit .429 and .591. Irvine setter Dante Chakravorti, whose 10.51 assists per set average places him fourth nationally, finished with just 21 assists.

“Our defense, overall, was pretty good,” Wade said. “We had 30 digs in a three-set match. At 10 per set, that’ll lead the country, pretty much.”

But Wade believes the Warriors must improve their blocking and serving in tonight’s rematch. UH committed 13 service errors, the same number as the Anteaters.

“I thought we could serve better, but on the road, it’s a little different environment for us,” Wade said. “I thought our blocking was less disciplined than it has to be.”

Junior middle Patrick Gasman, who leads the NCAA with 1.625 blocks per set, matched Parapunov with four block assists. Senior setter Joe Worsley had 45 assists, 20 in the first set, and younger brother Gage, a sophomore libero, had a match-high 10 digs.

Joel Schneidmiller led UCI with nine kills, while Scott Stadlick, fourth nationally with 1.37 blocks per set, had one solo block and two block assists.