It was report card night for Hawaii’s second unit on Thursday in its Outrigger Hotels & Resorts Invitational. The Rainbow Warriors gave most of their usual lineup a rest while giving three reserves their first starts of the season and two others their third.
What No. 1 Hawaii calls its “A-plus” side turned in a performance that matched the moniker, sweeping Queens 25-10, 25-15, 25-17 in front of 2,545 at the Stan Sheriff Center. Redshirt sophomore middle Max Rosenfeld finished with a career-high nine kills and true freshmen Chaz Galloway, an outside hitter, and opposite Dimitrios Mouchlias finished with seven kills each as the Warriors ran their home winning streak to 23 with their eighth sweep.
“The most important stat is getting the win,” said Rosenfeld, who hit .818 with no errors on 11 swings and added three blocks. “Everyone was fired up and ready to go. There was a similar vibe as Gym I (practice gym) with the energy.
“I think we brought the high level of intensity of practice into the match. It was awesome.”
>> Photo Gallery: Men’s volleyball: Hawaii vs. Queens
Hawaii (10-0) continues its quest for its 10th title in its signature event today against No. 14 Concordia-Irvine (4-5) at 7 p.m. The Eagles fell to crosstown rival UC Irvine for the second time in eight days, 24-26, 25-18, 25-21, 25-20, in Thursday’s opener.
The fourth-ranked Anteaters (6-3), who also beat CUI in four on Jan. 30, take on the Royals (4-5) at 4 p.m. today.
Queens, a third-year program in the Independent Volleyball Association, got six kills from junior hitter Tristan Santoyo in its first trip west of the Mississippi.
“We knew regardless of who we faced (from Hawaii) would be good,” Royals coach Jeremy Price said. “When you’re the No. 1 team in the country, you’re going to have good players everywhere in your gym. We did get to see Gage (junior libero Worsley), I think the best libero in the country. He had a great match, made some plays we don’t normally see made against us.
“Hawaii is just so deep. We kept telling our guys to play who’s out there, not the uniform. A couple of times we started playing the uniform and not the players.”
The Royals saw plenty Warriors, who used 14 on their 21-man roster. The only constant for Hawaii through two-plus sets was Worsley, who had nine digs before giving way to freshman Shea Suzumoto at 15-8 in Set 3.
Sophomore setter Jakob Thelle, who had started the first seven matches, made a statement from the service line in Set 1. It was 13-10 and then it was over with Thelle’s dump shot sending him back to the service line at 14-10. The Norwegian national camped out for the next 13 minutes, closing it out on a 11-0 serving run that included two kills by Rosenfeld and one by Mouchlias on service overpasses.
“Those guys have been working hard and we’re always trying to figure out the timing of getting them in,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said. “So why not start them?
“Thelle was impressive from the service line. Rosefeld played great, getting the opportunity to show what he can do. I thought all of our guys did well.”
Several had career nights, including redshirt freshmen Cole Hogland, a middle, who had five kills, and hitter Devon Johnson four. Both Johnson and redshirt freshman middle Danny Wong recorded their first aces.
The Warriors did not play three who had started all season in senior opposite Rado Parapunov, senior middle Patrick Gasman and freshman middle Guilherme Voss. Redshirt freshman setter Brett Sheward had started the two matches prior to Thursday and senior hitter Colton Cowell had started all but two of the previous matches, missing time with an injury.
UCI 3, CUI: 1: Junior hitter Joel Schneidmiller put down 17 kills and sophomore opposite Alexandre Nsakanda added 15 in the battle between the 949 area code rivals. The Anteaters outblocked the Eagles 16-4.5 with 7-foot senior middle Scott Stadick in on 10, including three solo.
Both Punahou gradates on the UCI roster played: starting senior hitter JB Kam finishing with six kills and a team-high 11 digs, and freshman libero Davis Lau with one dig playing in Set 4. The Anteaters had 23 service errors.
Senior hitter Raymond Barsemian led CUI with 10 kills. Junior libero Addison Enriques (Kamehameha-Hawaii) had a match-high 20 digs.
