MVB: Hawai’i outlasts Penn State, will see UCLA Saturday

Apologies:. Forgot to hit send last night to post. But only partial draft saved so ….

will give you UH recap with box. Will rewrite with quotes later today. Mahalo for your patience.

box below

https://hawaiiathletics.com/boxscore.aspx?path=mvball&id=28408

From UH

FAIRFAX, Va. >> The University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball team (29-2) kept their season alive, surviving a five-set thriller over Penn State in the NCAA Championship semifinal on Thursday , 25-20, 25-23, 16-25, 23-25, 15-10 at EagleBank Arena. The Rainbow Warriors (29-2) advance to face the tournament’s top-seed UCLA in Saturday’s title match and will look to become the NCAA’s first three-peat champion in four decades.

Dimitrious Mouchlias pounded a season-high 25 kills while Chaz Galloway posted his first double-double of the season to propel Hawai’i into its fourth-straight NCAA title match.

Hawai’i avenged a four-set loss to the Nittany Lions in March in the OUTRIGGER Invitational. The win marked UH’s 29^th win of the season to set a new program record, surpassing the 28 wins set by the 2019 team. The “W” also extended UH’s win streak to 12, while snapping PSU’s 12-match win streak. It was the first time all season that UH was pushed to five sets.

Hawai’i is now 6-2 all-time in the NCAA semifinal and 4-2 against Penn State in NCAA Tournament matches.

The Nittany Lions (27-4) were led by Brett Wildman’s 15 kills and seven aces. Penn State avoided being swept for the first time this season when rallying for wins in Sets 3 and 4. They finish 2-3 in 5-setters.

Mouchlias led both teams in kills while hitting .364 for the match. It was his fourth 20+ kill performance this season and sixth of his career. Galloway helped to lead Hawai’i with his 21^st career and 10th double-digit kill match of the season while coming through with career-high 12 digs in the back row. Liber Brett Sheward  notched his fifth double-digit dig match this season scooping up 10 in the five-set win. The Warriors out-blocked (8.5-8.0) and out-dug the Nittany Lions, 48-37 to help overcome 21 service errors. Penn State had a 12-3 service ace advantage over the ‘Bows.

The first set was tight with seven ties until PSU went on a four-point run to take an 13-9 lead. Hawai’i however chipped away and eventually caught the Nittany Lions at 16-16. A 7-0 UH scoring run put the set out of reach as the ‘Bows built a 23-18 lead. The Warriors were uber efficient offensively, out-hitting Penn State, .409-to-.037 in the first set alone.

Hawai’i led Set 2 from the get-go, never trailing in the frame. But UH never led by more than three points and held off PSU, 25-23 to take a 2-0 match lead. Mouchlias was on fire in the second set, putting down seven kills on 11 swings for a .455 hitting percentage.

In the third, Hawai’i got off to a quick start to begin Set 3, jumping out to an early 4-1 lead. But Penn State, who was fighting to stay alive, then scored six-straight points to leapfrog over UH and they never looked back. The Nittany Lions pulled away to cruise to 25-16 set win. Penn State hit .318 for the frame while holding UH to a .071 hitting percentage.

The Warriors again built an early five-point lead at 10-5 to begin Set 4, but Penn State who had thoughts of recording a reverse-sweep would go on a 9-1 run to take a 14-11 lead. Hawai’i battled back and see-saw into the lead with three unanswered on Kāna’i Akana’s serving at 21-20. But PSU responded by scoring three-straight points of their own and went on to take Set 4, 25-23.

Hawai’i’s 6-1 run at the beginning of the fifth set the tone early. This time, UH kept PSU at bay and sided out at 90% (10-11) and held on to win, 15-10.

Saturday’s championship match begins at 11 a.m. HT at the EagleBank Arena. It will be a rematch between the teams from earlier this year when UH won in four.