Hawaii men’s volleyball team wins Outrigger Invitational over UC Irvine
Keoni Thiim and Alaka’i Todd had aces in the decisive fifth set to help No. 3 Hawaii win the Outrigger Invitational in a thriller over No. 5 UC Irvine, 23-25, 25-19, 25-22, 17-25, 15-13 tonight at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
The victory was the 16th in a row for Hawaii (17-1), but came after a difficult sight on one of four match points for UH when senior outside hitter Spyros Chakas went down on a swing holding his knee.
A crowd of 6,923 went dead silent as Chakas was down on the court. He eventually had to be carried off by teammates.
Hilir Henno, who had a career-high 36 kills, put down his third ace to make it 14-13 before Guilherme Voss ended it with his eighth kill.
Kurt Nusterer assisted on three Hawaii blocks in the fifth set as UH out blocked the Anteaters 15-10.
Chakas finished with a team-high 17 kills and eight digs for UH, which got a big boost off the bench from Thiim.
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Thiim finished with five aces, five kills, five assists and 12 digs.
Brett Sheward 30 assists, 22 digs and three kills for the Anteaters (13-6).
Hawaii will open the Big West Conference season next week at No. 2 Long Beach State.