No. 1 Hawaii sweeps No. 7 Pepperdine, gets championship rings

Hawaii outside hitter Spyros Chakas posted 15 kills to lead the top-ranked Rainbow Warrior volleyball team to a sweep of No. 7 Pepperdine tonight at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

UH setter Jakob Thelle set a season high with four aces and directed an attack that hit .524 in the first set and finished at .405 for the match in the 25-19, 25-18, 25-21 victory before a crowd of 6,982.

After a challenge review, Pepperdine’s Bryce Dvorak was ruled to have committed a foot fault on his serve on match point, and the Warriors (15-0) received their 2022 national championship rings after completing the sweep of the two-match series.

UH middle blockers Guilherme Voss and Cole Hogland finished with six kills each in 15 combined attacks. Voss was in on eight of UH’s 11 blocks and Hogland added another two, including a one-handed stuff of Pepperdine middle Akin Akinwumi in the first set. Chakas hit .591 on his 22 attempts and added two aces.

Two nights after Pepperdine opposite Jaylen Jasper hammered 26 kills in 47 swings in UH’s four-set win in the series opener, UH limited him to 11 kills in 22 attempts in the rematch.

The Warriors extended their overall winning streak to 24 consecutive matches and won their 28th in a row in the Sheriff Center.

UH will next prepare for the Outrigger Invitational next week. The Warriors will face Purdue Fort Wayne, No. 3 Penn State and No. 2 UCLA in the three-day tournament.