MATCH STATS
- #3 Hawai’i def. #12 Concordia-Irvine, 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-16)
- UH improves to 11-2; CUI drops to 8-8
- Honolulu, Hawai’i
- Attendance: 2901
- Box score
HONOLULU, Hawai’i – #3 Hawai’i made quick work of #12 Concordia-Irvine in straight sets Sunday night (25-20, 25-15, 25-16). The outcome was never in doubt, as the hosts outhit CUI .446-.145 and won every major statistical category on the night in 83 minutes.
The Rainbow Warriors were led by Austin Matautia with a match-high 12 kills, hitting .364 in the process. He also added 4 digs, all 3 of UH’s aces and 2 blocks. It was Matautia’s third start of the season. Matching him with 12 kills was Rado Parapunov. Rounding out the double-digit kill category for Hawai’i was Stijn van Tilburg with 10 kills on .389 hitting. Setter Joe Worsley dished 38 assists in the ever-efficient attack. Patrick Gasman a match-high 3 blocks to go along with his 5 kills, hitting .833 on the night. Libero Larry Tuileta led all defenders with 8 digs Sunday night.
CUI, swept for the second time in as many matches in Hawai’i, was led offensively by Taylor Falduti with 9 kills, hitting .500 for the Eagles, also a team-high. Setter Chandler Gibb had team-highs of 23 assists, 7 digs and CUI’s only ace on the night. No other Eagle had more than 2 digs in the match.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy of UH Athletics
HONOLULU – The second-ranked University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball team completed a two-match sweep of No. 13 Concordia-Irvine with a straight-set win Sunday at the Stan Sheriff Center. Set scores were 25-20, 25-15, 25-16 and the match lasted only 83 minutes.
The Rainbow Warriors (11-2) won both matches of the series in straight-set over the Eagles (8-8) of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. For the second straight match, sophomore Austin Matautia led the Warriors to victory. Starting only his third match of the season, the ‘Ewa Beach, O’ahu native shared match-high honors with Rado Parapunov with 12 kills, hitting .364 along with three aces, four digs, and two blocks.
Outside hitter Stijn van Tilburg added 10 kills, hitting .389 while setter Joe Worsley dished out 38 assists and directed the UH offense to .446 hitting for the match, including .529 combined in Sets 2 and 3.
Taylor Falduti had a team-high nine kills for the Eagles.
In Set 1, UH scored five straight points including two kills and two aces by Matautia for a 6-1 lead. The Warriors maintained that advantage throughout, despite committing an uncharacteristic seven hitting errors. Van Tilburg finished with six kills while Matautia and Parapunov each added four kills.
Three Eagle hitting errors during a 4-1 run gave the Warriors an 11-7 lead in Set 2. Hawai’i extended its lead to 16-10 after scoring three unanswered. UH held the Eagles to .038 hitting in the set while hitting .522 and recording two blocks.
A 6-2 run gave the Warriors a 13-7 lead to start Set 3 and that was enough of a cushion to pull out the straight set win. Parapunov had six of his 12 kills in the frame.
Courtesy of CUI Athletics
HONOLULU, Hawaii – In their fourth day in the islands, No. 13 Concordia (8-8, 3-3 MPSF) looked to bounce back against No. 2 Hawaii (11-2, 1-1 Big West), following a loss for the Eagles on Friday night. However, the result was the same with Hawaii taking the match 25-20, 25-15, 25-16.
Taylor Falduti led the Eagles on the night where he had nine kills and hit .500 with two blocks. Raymond Barsemianand Darcy Taig were right behind with seven and six kills respectively while Chandler Gibb had team-highs of 23 assists and seven digs.
For the second time this week, Hawaii got out to a fast start, going ahead 9-3. Taig was efficient early, putting down two kills with the Warriors still ahead 10-5. Off of serve received, Gibb delivered a one handed-set that tricked the Warrior block and placed no blockers up against Taig who then collected a kill and made the score 14-11 UH. Concordia paced themselves back into the set at 21-18, with a 3-0 run by ways of a kill by Falduti, a Gibb ace and a Falduti and Taig block. Teams traded consecutive errors, but Barsemian scored for the Eagles to fight off one set point before another Concordia error ended the set.
A dig by Gibb allowed Jacob Weiser to set up Taig who tipped the ball to the floor to get Concordia the first point of the second set. Both teams were toe-to-toe before Hawaii used a 6-2 run to go ahead 12-9. Barsemian, Gibb and Falduti continued to fuel the Eagles offense with each collecting kills, but Hawaii still led 18-13. The Warriors went on a 6-0 run to gain a 23-13 lead, which was the largest of the night. Owen Chun made an appearance in his home state and collected his first career kill at 24-15 before the Warriors put away the set with a kill.
The momentum stayed in favor of Hawaii in the third set with the Warriors gunning out to a 7-3 advantage. Concordia then came within two when Jonathan Predney put away a kill down the line and Falduti then followed that up winning a joust. A 5-1 run for Hawaii put them up 13-7 and forced a Concordia timeout. The timeout iced the Hawaii server as it led to a service error for the Warriors and Barsemian, Taig and Hunter Howell followed that with a triple block to come within four. Falduti scored two points for the Eagles to bring Concordia closer at 20-14, but Hawaii scored three straight to stay ahead. The Warriors would then end the match the way they started, putting the ball away and sealing the series in their favor.
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