HONOLULU – The third-ranked University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball team saw its 10-match win streak come to an end with a four-set loss to No. 5 USC in the championship match of the 29th OUTRIGGER Invitational Saturday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. Set scores were 25-21, 25-20, 26-28, 25-21.
The Rainbow Warriors (19-2) could not overcome a standout offensive performance by USC’s Dillon Klein, who finished with a team-high 21 kills, hitting .588. Klein battled with UH’s Kristian Titriyski for much of the night as the two heavyweight teams went toe-to-toe in front of a season-high crowd of 8,599. Titriyski finished with a match-high 23 kills but had 12 attack errors compared to only one for Klein, who was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
Adrien Roure added 17 kills for the Warriors on .452 hitting with nine digs and two blocks. Middles Justin Todd (8) and Kurt Nusterer (7) combined for 15 kills with only one error in 25 attempts.
As a team, the Trojans (16-2) hit .390 for the match and had more aces (7-6) and blocks (9.5-5.5) than the Warriors. Hawai’i native Jack Deuchar added 15 kills and five aces while Sterling Foley tallied 12 kills, five digs, and four blocks.
Hawai’i, which was seeking its 12th OUTRIGGER title, hit .303 for the match with setter Tread Rosenthal directing the offense and finishing with 53 assists, three kills, seven digs, two aces, and two blocks.
USC captured its first OUTRIGGER title in three appearances.
In Set 1, the Trojans jump ahead early and never looked back. The lead was 22-16 after a consecutive kills by Klein and the Trojans’ fourth block of the set. UH closed to within two after a 4-0 run that included Rosenthal’s second ace but USC scored three of the final four points to close it out.
UH got off to a better start in Set 2, taking a 10-6 lead. Back-to-back aces by Deuchar pulled the Trojans to within one at 12-11 and they took their first lead with a four-point run that put them up 19-16. USC went on to out-score Hawai’i 5-2 to finish the set.
Down 0-2 for the first time all season, scored four straight for a 14-12 lead. The Trojans led 22-19 but the Warriors scored three straight to tie it up. Hawai’i erased two match points on kills by Roure and Louis Sakanoko and on its second set point, Titriyski’s kill closed out the set.
Hawai’i led 14-12 in Set 4 but the Trojans scored seven straight – four by UH errors – for a 19-14 lead. The Warriors got within two at 23-21 after scoring three straight but the Trojans answered with a kill by Foley and Titriyski attack error to secure the victory.
In the day’s earlier match, No. 12 Ball State outlasted No. 19 Penn State in five sets, 25-20, 20-25, 25-12, 20-25, 15-10 to capture third place. Raje Alleyne led the Cardinals with 17 kills while the Nittany Lions were led by Matthew Luoma with 19 kills.
The all-tournament team consisted of Roure, Rosenthal, USC’s Klein, Deuchar and Parker Tomkinson, Penn State’s Ryan Merk, and Ball State’s Braydon Savinski-Lynde.
Hawai’i will take the next week off before returning to Big West play with a two-match series against UC San Diego, March 28-29 at SimpliFi Arena.
#HawaiiMVB
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