Hawaii clinches No. 3 seed in Big West tournament with win over UC San Diego

Hawaii senior opposite hitter Alaka’i Todd finished with a team-high 15 kills to help lead the fifth-ranked Rainbow Warriors to a 25-20, 25-16, 12-25, 25-20 win over UC San Diego today at LionTree Arena in La Jolla, Calif.

Freshman Louis Sakanoko had three of Hawaii’s 10 aces to help the Rainbow Warriors (22-5, 5-4 Big West) clinch the No. 3 seed in the Big West tournament starting Thursday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

Hawaii will open the tournament in the second first-round match next week against the loser of Saturday’s match between Cal State Northridge and UC Santa Barbara. The Gauchos beat CSUN in four sets today and have won two straight after starting the conference season 0-7.

Junior Keoni Thiim added 11 kills for Hawaii against the Tritons (11-14, 3-6), and Sakanoko added 10 kills and four assists.

Hawaii closed out the match hitting .536 in the fourth set with 17 kills and two errors.

Anthony Cherfan had a match-high 16 kills to lead UC San Diego.

The two teams will finish the regular season in a rematch on Saturday at 4 p.m.