The assignment was clear as soon as Kurt Nusterer received the text.

With Hawaii middle blocker Cole Hogland feeling ill Thursday morning, Nusterer knew he was next in line to step into the top-ranked Rainbow Warriors’ lineup to open the most anticipated weekend of the collegiate men’s volleyball season.

Making his second career start — and his first in SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center — Nusterer stifled the butterflies and the Warriors worked through some anxious moments in the first set in a sweep of Purdue Fort Wayne to cap the opening day of the 27th Outrigger Volleyball Invitational.

“I was a little nervous, I’m not gonna lie,” Nusterer said after the match played before a crowd of 3,464. “There’s nothing like playing in front of the people here. I think those nerves will honestly never wear off just because of the thrill of the crowd.”

The Warriors fought off a first-set scare from the Mastodons before tying a program record with the 27-25, 25-13, 25-20 win.

With their 25th consecutive victory — and 29th straight at home — the Warriors (16-0) matched the UH-record winning streak set by the 2019 team. They’ll again put their status as the lone undefeated team in NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball on the line against No. 3 Penn State in tonight’s feature match.

The Nittany Lions (15-2) forced No. 2 UCLA to a fifth set in the tournament opener on Thursday before the Bruins (18-1) closed out the 25-20, 25-22, 16-25, 21-25, 15-10 win. UCLA will next face Purdue Fort Wayne (12-6) in today’s 4 p.m. match, with the UH-Penn State match to follow.

“It’ll go five, like it always does seems like when we play against Penn State. (Nittany Lions coach Mark Pavlik) and I usually joke about that,” UH coach Charlie Wade said. “That is a talented and experienced team and they’ve got weapons everywhere. They’re good in every phase of the game.”

>> RELATED: No. 2 UCLA edges No. 3 Penn State at Outrigger Volleyball Invitational

UH opposite Dimitrios Mouchlias helped the Warriors extend their streaks by posting a match-high 14 kills on .462 hitting and five blocks against Purdue Fort Wayne. Outside hitter Spyros Chakas added 12 kills and setter Jakob Thelle directed an attack that hit .436 with just eight attack errors. Thelle finished with 32 assists and an ace.

Middle blocker Guilherme Voss put away six of his seven attempts and Nusterer contributed four kills in six swings and was in on three of UH’s 7.5 blocks.

“Kurt just got a chance to show what we see every day in practice,” Wade said. “On one standpoint, sad to hear Cole’s not feeling well. But good to get Kurt out there in a pretty meaningful match and show what he can do.”

Hogland was the lone UH player to start all 15 matches this season before sitting out on Thursday. Nusterer made his first career start at Barton on Jan. 28 during UH’s trip to North Carolina and was named the Big West Freshman of the Week.

“It definitely helped having played at Barton and get that feeling of pressure because the team is counting on you,” Nusterer said. “Doing that at Barton first really helped make it easier tonight for me.”

The Indianapolis product faced a team from his home state and Purdue Fort Wayne, the tournament’s as the least heralded team, threatened to play spoiler in the first set on Thursday.

UH led 15-11 midway through the first set, but Purdue Fort Wayne stayed close, then tied the set on back-to-back UH errors and took a 21-20 lead on setter Zach Sullivan’s ace down the line. The Mastodons took a 23-21 lead, but a service error and an attack error aided UH’s 3-0 run to earn set point. Purdue Fort Wayne twice forced deuce before Chakas gave UH its third attempt at set point and Voss converted with his fifth kill of the set.

“They are a physical team,” Mouchlias said of the Mastodons. “I think it was more on our side of the net — our passing, our blocking, our hitting, and (I) think it was more about ourselves.

“We practice a lot of those mini-games from 18-all, so we are familiar with this type of situation, so it helped a lot.”

Purdue Fort Wayne went up 8-6 in the second set only to see UH score 19 of the next 24 points. Mouchlias sparked the run with a six-point service turn that included two kills and an ace and capped it with his seventh kill of the set. Brett Sheward had three assists from his libero spot, including one to Thelle, who hammered a kill down the line.

Nusterer and Mouchlias teamed up on two of UH’s four blocks in the third set and the Warriors broke away with a 5-1 run late in the set, opening up a 23-17 lead on an ace by Chakas.

Mastodons middle blocker Bryce Walker, a player Nusterer looked up to early in his club volleyball days, tied for team-high honors with nine kills on 15 attacks in the match.