Hang 10.
More importantly, hang 12.
No. 1 Hawaii won its signature event on Saturday night for the 10th time, picking up a signature victory. In the process, the Rainbow Warriors (12-0) remained one of two undefeated men’s volleyball teams in the country after sweeping No. 4 UC Irvine 25-22, 25-20, 25-20 for the championship of the 26th Outrigger Hotels & Resorts Invitational.
A season-high crowd of 4,837 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched for 102 minutes as Hawaii ran its home winning streak to 25, defending the tournament title. The Warriors also have not dropped a set in eight home matches this season.
>> PHOTOS: UC Irvine vs. Hawaii
The nonconference meeting with Big West rival UCI was “a really good battle for us,” said senior middle Patrick Gasman, one of four Warriors named to the all-tournament team. “We haven’t seen this caliber of team besides Lewis (a 3-1 win on the road Jan. 17), haven’t had this kind of adversity.
“We’ll use it as a team to work on our weaknesses. We need to keep working, not get complacent and stay humble.”
The Anteaters (7-4) won the battle between the top two blocking teams in the country, with six of their 13 blocks coming in Set 3, when they held off five match points. UCI senior middle Scott Stadick — who leads the country in stuffs — personally outblocked Hawaii 11-8.5 in setting the tournament record for blocks with 26.
Stadick and junior hitter Joel Schneidmiller represented UCI on the all-tournament team along with Concordia Irvine libero Addison Enriques (Kamehameha-Hawaii). The Warriors also had senior hitter Colton Cowell named the Most Outstanding Player, as well as senior opposite Rado Parapunov, last year’s MOP, and junior libero Gage Worsley.
Parapunov finished with 14 kills, including the match-ender, and two aces. He is two shy of tying Clay Stanley for 10th all-time in career aces (89).
Sophomore opposite Alexandre Nsakanda led UCI with 15 kills. The Anteaters won this event in 2015.
Cowell credited Hawaii’s high volleyball IQ as one of the differences.
“We had opportunities to be cerebral tonight,” said Cowell, who finished with 12 kills. “Irvine is a very resilient team, a very physical team.
“For us to come away with a win, we knew it was never going to be easy. It was going to take us making critical decisions and executing. We took chances tonight, but that was nice that someone in the moment made the cerebral decision to get the ball to the floor. And that was Rado at the end.”
Hawaii was cruising in Set 3 13-4 before UCI made it a respectable 15-10. The Warriors had match point at 24-15 and nearly saw that cushion erased by the Anteaters when they had three blocks in a 5-0 run, closing to 24-20.
Parapunov finally ended it on his 22nd swing. It was the fifth straight win over UCI for Hawaii and the Warriors’ 10th in the past 11 meetings.
Hawaii makes its second road trip of the year next, heading to No. 13 Stanford (5-5) for matches Friday and Saturday. No. 2 Brigham Young (12-0) is the other undefeated team.
Hawaii pulled away early in Set 1, leading by five as late as 22-17. UCI used a block and three errors by the Warriors to pull to 23-22.
Parapunov’s fourth kill gave Hawaii set point. It ended on one play — and one block —by freshman hitter Dimitrios Mouchlias, who had just subbed into the front row.
The Warriors chased the Anteaters through the middle of Set 2, a 3-0 run capped by Parapunov’s ace giving them a 15-13 lead. UCI earned what would be the eighth and last tie — 16-16 — on Hawaii’s sixth service error.
The Anteaters hung tough, closing to 22-20. The Warriors were tougher, finishing it on freshman hitter Filip Humler’s kill, a UCI hitting error and — as happened at the end of Set 1 — a block, this when Humler and senior middle Patrick Gasman teamed to stuff Nsakanda.
“We had good focus,” Parapunov said. “We have respect for (UCI), they are a good team. We made mistakes tonight, but we didn’t let our mistakes make the difference.”
In the de facto third-place match, No. 14 Concordia Irvine swept Queens 25-20, 25-19, 25-19 in 79 minutes.
No. 14 Concordia 3, Queens 0
Senior hitter Raymond Barsemian put down eight kills with no errors and Enriques added seven digs for the Eagles (6-6).
Freshman hitter Nic Cavallaro finished with a match-high 12 digs for the Royals (4-7), a third-year program making its first trip west of the Mississippi River.
