Hawaii thrived and advanced today, beating UC Santa Barbara in the opening round of the Outrigger Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship Tournament.
Third-seeded and No. 5 ranked UH came back after dropping the first set to win 23-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-23 at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
Hawaii (23-6) has won two of the last three national championships and the last two conference titles. But UH needs to beat No. 2 seed and 4th-ranked UC Irvine on Friday and, on Saturday, most likely No. 1 ranked Long Beach State to make it to the NCAA Tournament a fifth consecutive time.
UCSB finished 9-18 overall.
The Warriors have the home court advantage all week, but are without senior All-America hitter Chakos Spyros, who has missed the last 11 matches with a season-ending injury.
Middle Kurt Nusterer was the biggest difference-maker for UH with seven kills on his first of eight swings, two aces and four blocks.
UCSB’s Geste Bianchi was match-high with 24 kills, but that was negated by the Gauchos’ 28 service errors.
Santa Barbara jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first set, and Hawaii never led until going ahead 18-17 after six ties. That was short-lived, though, and UH took its first timeout trailing 21-19.
UH fought off two set points before UCSB prevailed 25-23, as Bianchi closed it out with his sixth kill. Nusterer kept Hawaii close with three kills in three swings, an ace and a block.
Hawaii never lost the second set lead after an ace from Alaka’i Todd made it 10-9. Todd delivered a team-high 13 kills for the match.
UH led all the way in the third, with Nusterer scoring consecutively to make it 7-3, planting an ace to make it 13-5, and combining with Chaz Galloway on a block for the set-winner.
The fourth set remained close, but UH ended it with Galloway’s ace, and a kill into the back corner by setter Tread Rosenthal.
In the first opening round match, CSUN swept UC San Diego 25-20, 28-26, 25-22. Jalen Sanchez led Northridge with 15 kills. CSUN plays No. 1 Long Beach State in Friday’s first semifinal.