Hawaii men’s volleyball sweeps UC Irvine in Big West opener
JAMM AQUINO/JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Hawaii opposite Kristian Titriyski (10) celebrates with teammates after a point against the McKendree Bearcats on Jan. 5.
Freshman opposite Kristian Titriyski put down a match-high 17 kills with two aces and No. 4 Hawaii opened Big West Conference play in impressive fashion with a 25-21, 26-24, 25-22 sweep of No. 3 UC Irvine tonight.
A SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 7,024 watched Hawaii hit .583 in the first set to set the tone in a competitive match in which neither team led by more than four points in the first two sets.
Hawaii (13-1, 1-0) closed out the match on a UCI hitting error that was challenged by the Anteaters, but ultimately upheld after a review.
Freshman Justin Todd started his fifth match this season at middle blocker and hit .800 with eight kills and freshman outside Adrien Roure hit .533 with nine kills, eight digs and two aces.
Sophomore Tread Rosenthal finished with a match-high 36 assists, four kills and two blocks and finished the match wearing a different jersey number after he was forced to make a switch after bleeding on his original uniform.
Hilir Henno had 13 kills for UC Irvine (10-3, 0-1), which has lost three straight.
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It was the first time the two teams played since UC Irvine swept Hawaii on the same court in the Big West Conference tournament semifinals to end UH’s season last year.
The two teams will play again Sunday at 5 p.m.
