Honolulu, Hawaii – No. 8 Hawaii outlasted No. 14 UC Irvine, 3-2 (25-17, 23-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-9) in a two hour and 31 minute MPSF match at the Stan Sheriff Center.

UC Irvine (8-16, 5-12) was led by Michael Saeta with 19 kills and two aces. Thomas Hodges had a career-high 17 kills, while hitting .696 (17-1-23). David Parker added 14 kills and a team-high nine digs and Dante Chakravorti had 56 set assists, one shy of his career-high. Middle blockers Jason Agopian and Marty Ross each recorded six kills with Agopian totaling a team-best five blocks.

Hawaii's Sinisa Zarkovic carried the offensive load with 25 kills. Nainoa Frank had 10 kills and hit .692 (10-1-13) and Kupono Fey tallied nine kills and a match-high six blocks. The Warriors improve to 13-9 overall and 8-9 in the MPSF.

In the first set, UH created some distance on two kills and an ace by Joe Worsley. Hawaii would extend the lead to 20-15 on a 4-0 run, which included three UCI errors. Hawaii would win the set on a pair of aces and an Anteater attack error, 25-17.

In a close second set, a kill by Jason Agopian and a block by Thomas Hodges put the Anteaters up 14-12. Hawaii would tie it up at 15-15 and the teams would be tied five more times before a kill by Hodges was followed by a Hawaii attack error, 24-22. A kill by Sinisa Zarkovic and a UCI timeout preceded a kill by Hodges to end the set 25-23.

Hawaii went on a 4-1 run in the third set to lead 14-11. Two kills by Hodges and a block by Dante Chakravorti and Marty Ross tied the set, 18-18. Hawaii responded with a kill and back-to-back blocks to take a 21-18 advantage. Following a UCI timeout, the Anteaters scored the next three on a kill by Ross and two Hawaii attack errors the last a block by Ross and Hodges, 21-21. The Warriors would then record four of the final six points for the 25-23 win.

In the fourth set kills by Hodges and Saeta plus a Hawaii attack error gave UCI some separation at 11-7. Back-to-back Hawaii attack errors and an ace by Saeta gave UCI an 18-15 advantage. Hawaii would score the net three, but UCI would use a kill by Parker and Hodges to take a 20-18 lead. Hodges would end the set with a kill, 25-21 to send the match to a fifth game.

Hawaii would jump out to a 4-1 lead then continued to hold 7-4 advantage in the final game. UCI narrowed the margin to 7-6 on a kill by Saeta and a Hawaii attack error, but an Anteater service error stopped the rally, 8-6. An ace and two kills by Hawaii followed to give UH an 11-6 lead. The Warriors would go on to win the set 15-9 and the match, 3-2.

The two teams will be back in action tomorrow with another 10:00 p.m. PT match from the Stan Sheriff Center.