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Hawai‘i
4/11/2026 | 7 PM
Apr. 11 (Sat) / 7 PM
Hawai‘i
LA JOLLA, Calif. — No. 2 Hawai’i won the first of two men’s volleyball matches with No. 13 UC San Diego this weekend, sweeping the Tritons 25-21, 25-18, 25-21 on Friday night at LionTree Arena.
The Rainbow Warriors (24-3, 7-0 Big West) hit .342 and had nine aces. The Tritons (11-12, 2-6 Big West) hit .280 and were held to just two aces. UC San Diego was led by Sebastiano Sani (11 kills, .556) and Josh Ewert (10 kills, .273).
Setter Cameron Wurl provided a spark off the bench for the Tritons, finishing with 13 assists and a block after subbing in to set two and starting set three. Middle blocker Leo Wiemelt also came in to start set three, finishing with a solo block.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set one had 11 ties and six lead changes, with a 4-0 Hawai’i run after the media timeout proving to be the difference. The Rainbow Warriors turned a 16-15 lead into a 20-15 advantage, forcing the Tritons to use both timeouts along the way. The score margin stayed at four for the rest of the set as Hawai’i went on to win 25-21.
The Rainbow Warriors continued that momentum into set two as they never trailed. Two separate 3-0 spurts that featured three of UH’s four aces in the set grew the visitor’s lead to 17-11. Just like set one, Hawai’i kept the lead intact for the rest of the second, winning 25-18.
The Tritons had a strong start to set three as they opened with a 4-0 run. Leo Pravednikov had a pair of kills, with Jim Garrison registering one to go along with a block that was assisted by Wurl. Hawai’i was able to cut the lead down to one at 7-6 before another 4-0 Triton run saw the hosts leading 11-6. That stretch featured two kills from Sani and one from Ewert.
After calling a timeout to stop the Tritons’ momentum, the visitors slowly chipped away at the lead and later used two-straight aces to tie the third set at 16. The two teams were still tied later at 19-all before Hawai’i closed on a 6-2 run to win set three 25-21 and earn the sweep.
QUOTABLE
“We have to play a lot cleaner, a lot better,” head coach Brad Rostratter said. “We made a lot of errors on the attacking and the serving side of things, and they didn’t. That’s a tough matchup, they’re a good team. We have to play more consistent volleyball on our end to really apply a little bit more pressure and not allow them to play so freely throughout the match.”
UP NEXT
The two teams will square off again tomorrow night. The match begins at 7:00 p.m. from LionTree Arena and will also be broadcast on ESPN+.
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program has begun a new era as a member of The Big West in NCAA Division I. The 24-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 39 have garnered prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world’s preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in NCAA Division I or II. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.