No. 3 Hawaii men’s volleyball team falls at No. 10 UC San Diego in five sets
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / 2021
UC San Diego Triton teammates congratulated outside hitter Ryan Ka (9) after a kill during the fifth set of the semifinal match against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors at the Big West Tournament held on April 23. The Tritons handed UH its only loss in the 2021 season.
No. 10 UC San Diego fought off a Hawaii comeback bid to upset the third-ranked Rainbow Warriors in five sets today in La Jolla, Calif.
UCSD outside hitters Ryan Ka and Kyle McCauley put away 19 kills each and the Tritons knocked off the Rainbow Warriors for a second straight meeting in a 25-22, 25-23, 25-27, 18-25, 15-9 win at RIMAC Arena.
In the previous meeting between the programs, UC San Diego stunned host UH in five sets in the semifinals of last year’s Big West tournament at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
The Tritons (8-6, 1-1 Big West) repeated the feat, this time on their home court, to send the Warriors (13-3, 0-1) to a loss in their conference opener and post UCSD’s sixth win in 66 total matchups with Hawaii.
UH and UCSD conclude their series with a rematch on Friday.
The Tritons pushed past the Warriors late in the first two sets in today’s match and the Warriors went to extra points in the third before extending the match on a solo block by Guilherme Voss.
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UH posted five blocks while UCSD committed 12 attack errors in the fourth set and an ace by Jakob Thelle sent UH to a fifth set for the second time this season.
But as in their loss at Ball State on Jan. 31, the Warriors couldn’t keep pace late and the Tritons closed the match on a 6-1 run to close out the win.
UCSD hit .280 for the match and closed it out by putting away nine kills in 10 attempts with no errors in the fifth set.
UH opposite Dimitrios Mouchlias led the Warriors with 13 kills in 36 attempts. Voss had nine kills on .438 hitting and was in on eight blocks, including three solo. Outside hitter Spyros Chakas finished with nine kills.
