MATCH STATS
- #2 Hawaii Def. #15 Penn State 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-16)
- #2 Hawaii 13-2 (1-1 Big West); #15 Penn State 10-6 (5-2 EIVA)
- Honolulu, Hawaii (Outrigger Hotels & Resorts Invitational)
- Box score
Honolulu, Hawaii – For the second time in as many days, #2 Hawaii defended its home court in sweep-fashion during the Outrigger Hotels & Resorts Invitational. The win pushes them to 2-0 in the tournament, while #15 Penn State drops to 0-2.
The difference was simply a cleaner and more efficient match for the Rainbow Warriors, as Penn State totaled eight more attack errors and six more service errors. The difference showed in the team’s hitting percentages, with Hawaii out-hitting Penn State .342 to .089.
Having a plethora of viable options offensively heavily contributed to the difference, as no player recorded double-digit kills for Hawaii while five players were between four and nine kills. The leaders came in Stijn Van Tilburg (nine kills, .333), Austin Matautia (eight kills, .438) and Dalton Solbrig (six kills, .500). In some moments this year, it’s been the Van Tilbrug show, but Hawaii is starting to show more balance with Joe Worsley (29 assists, 10 digs) play strong at the setter spot.
For Penn State, Calvin Mende (10 kills, .214) continued to be solid in progressing past his previous injury and Aidan Albrecht (seven kills, .176) was the second option, but the rest of the Nittany Lions hit just -.059 combined. Without the balance of Hawaii and an inability to consinstently be terminal or efficient, it was an uphill battle throughout for Penn State, who only led briefly in the second set.
Other team stats in the match included Hawaii out-blocking Penn State 8.5 to seven, logging more digs (28-22) and one more ace (6-5).
To finish out the tournament, Hawaii takes on #5 BYU – who Penn State took to five on the first day. That one will be for all the marbles – at least from this quick tournament’s perspective as both teams are 2-0 in Honolulu this week. For Penn State, they meet up with #8 Lewis for MIVA/EIVA clash where one team can salvage the week.
Press Releases
HONOLULU – The University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball team swept its second straight opponent in the 24th Outrigger Resorts Invitational with a victory over 11th-ranked Penn State Friday at the Stan Sheriff Center. Set scores were 25-16, 25-19, 25-16.
The Rainbow Warriors (12-2) will look to claim their third consecutive Outrigger title and ninth overall when faces BYU on Saturday. The Cougars (16-4) defeated No. 8 Lewis for their 11th straight victory and will be seeking their third title in as many appearances.
Outside hitter Stijn van Tilburg led a balanced UH attack with nine kills, hitting .333. But it was sophomore outside hitter Austin Matautia, who once again dazzled the crowd with his serving game. The ‘Ewa Beach, O’ahu native added three aces along with eight kills and four digs. Matautia has seven aces in the tournament and needs one more to tie the tournament record.
The Nittany Lions (10-6) were led by Calvin Mende‘s 10 kills.
UH’s frontline gave PSU fits throughout the match. The Warriors tallied 8.5 blocks but more importantly, the Nittany Lions hit only .089 for the match. Middle blocker Patrick Gasman tied a career-high with six stuffs.
In Set 1, opposite Rado Parapunov‘s kill and ace gave UH a 7-3 lead. UH doubled-up on the Lions at 10-5 after a triple block and went ahead 13-7 after consecutive kills by middle blocker Dalton Solbrig. The lead was 21-12 after a Parapunov kill and the Warriors finished off the set by scoring four of the last five points.
Matautia’s serving led to eight straight Warrior points to start Set 2. UH led 16-9 with a 4-1 run made it 23-16 before the Lions closed to within four. But Matautia ended it with a dink kill and his second ace.
Reserve opposite Brandon Rattray entered the lineup to start Set 3 and quickly ignited the Warriors with three kills. UH led 15-10 at the media timeout after Rattray’s fourth kill and Colton Cowell‘s ace capped a six-point scoring run. Four straight Nittany Lion errors made it 20-11 and soon after Matautia ended the match with yet another ace.
In the first match of the day the Cougars withstood Lewis in four sets, 25-15, 18-25, 25-23, 26-24. Brenden Sander had a team-high 14 kills, hitting .370 while Gabi Garcia Fernandez added 10 kills and four blocks. Ryan Coenen tallied 15 kills for the Flyers (13-7).
The tournament concludes on Saturday with Penn State and Lewis at 4:00 p.m., followed by BYU and UH at 7:00 p.m.
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