Warriors Fend Off Penn State to Advance to NCAA Semifinals

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Back at the site of a national championship run, the University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball team continued its quest for a third title with a four-set win over Penn State in the quarterfinals of the National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship on Thursday at the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio.
 
After trailing by eight early in the opening set, the second-seeded Rainbow Warriors roared back then held off the No. 7-seeded Nittany Lions on their way to a 25-19, 21-25, 25-23, 25-23 victory.
 
The Rainbow Warriors (27-5) advanced to face UCLA (21-6) in a semifinal match on Saturday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (2 p.m. Hawai’i Time). The Bruins swept Belmont Abbey in Thursday’s first quarterfinal match. UH and UCLA will add another chapter to their storied rivalry in their first meeting since the Bruins’ 3-1 win in the 2023 NCAA Championship final in Fairfax, Va.
 
UH freshman Finn Kearney led the Warriors with 16 kills and fired a season-high four aces, three coming in the opening set. Middle blockers Justin Todd and Kurt Nusterer combined for 17 kills on .667 hitting and were in on seven of UH’s 10 blocks.
 
Todd finished eight kills on 10 error-free attempts, including match point, and also contributed two aces and four blocks. Nusterer, a senior from Indianapolis, added nine kills on 14 swings while hitting .571 and had three blocks in his return to the Midwest.
 
Outside hitter Louis Sakanoko also had nine kills and delivered three aces, two coming in the fourth set to help the Warriors close out the match. All-America setter Tread Rosenthal distributed 38 assists and put away five kills of his own.
 

 
UH captured the 2021 NCAA crown in the Covelli Center and opened the program’s 10^th appearance in the national championship tournament with its second win over Penn State this season. The Warriors swept the Nittany Lions in the OUTRIGGER Invitational on March 14 and managed to fend off the upset bid in Thursday’s rematch.
 
Penn State scored the first six points of the match before Nusterer got UH on the board.  The Nittany Lions’ attack started 7 for 8 without an error and their lead grew to 11-3. Kearney turned the momentum with three aces in a 9-0 UH run to propel the Warriors to their first lead of the day. After UH opened up a three-point cushion, Penn State tied the set again at 17-17. But UH went on an 8-2 surge to pull away and closed out the set hitting .367 to Penn State’s .148.
 
Penn State took a 16-14 lead midway through the second set and built a 21-16 margin. The Nittany Lions led 23-18 after UH’s eighth attack error of the set. UH fought off two set points on kills by Nusterer and Kearney but Penn State finished off the set to even the match.
 
Penn State again took a lead early in the third set before UH moved ahead at 15-13 with a 5-1 run heading into the technical timeout. The Warriors edged ahead and took a 21-18 lead when Sakanoko landed an ace in front of the Penn State defense. The Nittany Lions answered back to tie the set at 22-22. After a Penn State attack sailed long, Rosenthal fired another ace to give UH set point. Penn State stayed alive for a point but Nusterer split the block for his sixth kill to end the set.
 

 
The fourth set was again tight and Sakanoko pushed UH ahead at 18-17 with back-to-back aces. There were five ties before UH took a 23-22 lead on a Penn State error. Todd and Sakanoko then combined on a block that was upheld after a review to give UH match point. After a Penn State kill and a UH timeout, Todd hammered his final kill to close out the match.  
 

 
Penn State’s Matthew Luoma led the Nittany Lions with a match-high 17 kills and Will Kuhns added 11 kills.
 

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