No. 1 Hawaii fends off UC San Diego in 4 sets

A season-high blocking performance and efficiency from the service line helped No. 1 Hawaii overcome a sometimes erratic attack in a four-set victory over UC San Diego in tonight’s Big West men’s volleyball match at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center

The Warriors put down 14 blocks, five coming in the final set, and fired eight aces while committing nine service errors and held off the Tritons 28-26, 25-17, 19-25, 25-15 before a crowd of 6,008 to open their final homestand of the season.

UH (25-2, 8-1 Big West) will enter the final day of the regular season tied with Long Beach State for the conference lead, but holds the tiebreaker edge over the Beach. The Warriors can clinch the top seed in next week’s Big West Tournament with a win in Saturday’s rematch with UCSD or an LBSU loss at third-place UC Irvine.

UH opposite Dimitrios Mouchlias, one of the six UH players who will be honored in Saturday’s senior night ceremony, led the Warriors with 13 kills on 29 attempts, and outside hitter Chaz Gallloway added 11 kills in 23 swings for a .391 performance plus a team-high eight digs.

Middle blocker Cole Hogland finished with five kills in six swings, served up two aces in the first set and was in on five blocks. Middle blocker Guilherme Voss finished with six total blocks, including two solo.

UCSD, which pulled out five-set wins over UH each of the past two seasons, had two set points before UH rallied to take the set. The Warriors fired five aces in a second-set rout, but hit .038 in the third and UCSD sent the match to a fourth set.

UH took command early in the fourth set with back-to-back blocks and an ace from Mouchlias. The Warriors’ final block of the night gave them match point, and UCSD’s 24th hitting error ended the match.

Ryan Ka led the Tritons (8-15, 2-7) with a match-high 20 kills on 45 swings.