University of Hawaii men’s volleyball team rolls in exhibition

After a slow start, the Hawaii men’s volleyball team rolled past Cal State Northridge on Wednesday to open a series of exhibition matches in Southern California.

The defending national champion Rainbow Warriors dropped the first set to the Matadors 25-15 then took the next four 25-18, 25-23, 25-17, 25-21 at the Matadome in Northridge. The teams were scheduled to play five sets regardless of the set scores.

UH coach Charlie Wade noted the play of sophomore middle blocker Guilherme Voss, one of 10 letterwinners and three starters returning from last season’s title team.

“His blocking was good early and often,” Wade said. “He had seven blocks through three sets … and he was pretty unstoppable hitting also, so that was good to see.”

The Warriors face Orange Coast College and Vanguard today at OCC Gymnasium. They’ll play at UC Irvine on Friday and close the trip with matches against UCLA and Pepperdine on Saturday.

“We’re still working through different combinations on the floor so it was good,” Wade said. “For Day 1 we played five full sets and that’s the idea this week. … We’ll get a lot of volleyball in and they will sleep well on the plane Sunday morning.”