The University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball team secured a 3-1 victory over No. 14 Penn State on Saturday at Rec Hall, completing a two-match sweep in their series. The set scores were 25-27, 25-10, 25-15, and 38-36.
With this win, the Rainbow Warriors improved to a 10-1 record and extended their current winning streak to seven matches. The road trip to Pennsylvania marked the team’s first appearance in State College since the 2002 NCAA Championship.
Kainoa Wade led Hawai’i with 21 kills, matching his career high. Louis Sakanoko also tied his personal best with 19 kills. Wade hit .450 for the match with only three attack errors in 40 attempts and contributed three aces, five digs, and four blocks. Sakanoko hit .515 on 33 swings and added one ace along with five blocks.
Hawai’i finished the match hitting .412 as a team, recording nine aces and 13 blocks. Setter Tread Rosenthal had 47 assists along with two aces, seven digs, and three blocks. Adrien Roure contributed 11 kills, three aces, seven digs, and three blocks while Justin Todd led defensively with a career-high seven blocks. The match ended when Roure served an ace that was initially ruled out but overturned after video review.
Matthew Luoma was Penn State’s top scorer with 17 kills but managed only a .212 hitting percentage. Sean Harvey added another 11 kills for the Nittany Lions.
Owen Rose closed out the first set for Penn State by serving back-to-back aces that snapped Hawai’i’s streak of winning thirteen consecutive sets.
After dropping the opening set, Hawai’i responded by dominating sets two and three by scores of 25-10 and 25-15 respectively. During those sets they combined for a .722 hitting percentage while committing just one attack error in 36 attempts. Defensively they posted seven-and-a-half blocks and held Penn State to a combined hitting percentage of .000.
In the fourth set Penn State took an early lead but Hawai’i tied it at twelve points apiece. Both teams traded points late into the set before reaching match point scenarios multiple times; each side erased several opportunities before Roure’s final ace secured the win for Hawai’i.
Hawai’i will take next week off before heading to Stanford for a two-match series scheduled for February 13th and 14th.
