Warriors show off reserve power in sweeping Saint Francis
STEVEN ERLER / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER
Hawaii Rainbow Warriors setter Jakob Thelle (10), middle blocker Cole Hogland (7) and outside hitter Kanai Akana (25) attempt to block the hit of Saint Francis Red Flash outside hitter Blake Liprando (6) during the first set at SimplFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center on Wednesday.
Hawaii’s showed off its efficiency and depth in a sweep of Saint Francis tonight at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
UH opposite Dimitrios Mouchlias put away eight kills in 10 swings, outside hitter Chaz Galloway set a career high with three aces in the opening set and the Rainbow Warriors opened a two-match series with the Red Flash with a 25-16, 25-18, 25-23 win before a crowd of 3,260.
Mouchlias, Galloway and outside hitter Spyros Chakas were among the starters who went to the bench early as UH coach Charlie Wade gave several members of the “B side” playing time in the second and third sets.
Senior outside hitter Kana’i Akana, a serving substitute in UH’s season-opening series with Ball State last week, finished with seven kills in 11 attempts.
Keoni Thiim, also a serving specialist, had three kills and tied his career high with three aces in the third set, including a walk-off rocket on match point.
>> PHOTOS: Hawaii vs. Saint Francis
The Warriors (3-0) and Red Flash (0-3), in their first year of membership in the Northeast Conference, meet again on Friday.
Galloway served up three aces in the first set to surpass his previous career high. Two of his aces came in a 6-0 UH run that gave the Warriors set point at 24-13. The Red Flash survived three set points before Chakas hammered a kill off the block to give UH the lead in the match.
The Warriors expanded the rotation in the second set with Akana getting a start at outside hitter and Alaka’i Todd and Makua Marumoto making their first appearances of the season late in the set. Saint Francis led 12-11 before Mouchlias put away his eighth kill. Akana and Mouchlias then came up with back-to-back blocks to highlight an 8-2 run. Todd finished off the set with his first kill of the season off a back set from Thelle.
UH freshman middle blocker Kurt Nusterer made his on-court debut in the third set and was joined in the starting lineup by Thiim and libero ‘Eleu Choy.
Saint Francis led 14-12 before UH reclaimed the lead with a 5-1 run capped by Thiim’s second ace of the set. There were five ties before Thiim and Cole Hogland combined on a block to give UH match point and he ended the night with his third ace.
Nathan Zini led Saint Francis with 12 kills and Brandon Dunz was in on five of the Red Flash’s seven blocks.
