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No. 2 Hawaii volleyball sweeps No. 15 Ball State

Cindy Luis
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ANDREW LEE / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER

Hawaii’s Rado Parapunov slams a hit over Ball State’s Ben Chinnici during the first set.

Junior opposite Rado Parapunov put down 19 kills and No. 2 Hawaii survived an upset bid by No. 15 Ball State to remain undefeated with a 25-22, 25-19, 25-18 victory in tonight’s second match of the 25th Outrigger Hotels & Resorts Invitational men’s volleyball tournament at the Stan Sheriff Center.

It was the Rainbow Warriors’ 300th win in their home arena. Hawaii (14-0) extended its NCAA-record consecutive sets won with its 42nd via its 14th sweep, as well as set a record for the best start in program history.

Senior hitter Stijn van Tilburg added 12 kills, moving past Pono Ma’a for 10th place on the all-time kills list with 1,182. Junior hitter Matt Szews led the Cardinals (9-10) with 15 kills.

Hawaii’s victory sets up a true championship with No. 6 Pepperdine (13-4) at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Waves needed just 74 minutes to sweep King 25-21, 25-16, 25-18 in tonight’s first match.

The Tornado (10-7) meet the Cardinals in the de facto third-place match at 4 p.m. tomorrow.

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