No. 1 UH rebounds, downs No. 2 Bruins in 4

The top-ranked University of Hawaii men’s volleyball team bounced back from its first loss of the season with a 29-27, 21-25, 25-22, 28-26 victory over No. 2 UCLA on Saturday night at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu.

In front of a raucous crowd of over 10,000, the Rainbow Warriors (17-1) defeated the Bruins (19-2) to finish the three-day Outrigger Invitational with a 2-1 record. By virtue of a tie-breaker, Penn State captured the tournament title while UH was runner-up.

Jakob Thelle and Kurt Nusterer teamed to block UCLA’s Ethan Camplin on match point, sparking a wild celebration by the 12th sellout crowd in program history. Nusterer, a redshirt freshman from Indianapolis, started at middle blocker in place of Cole Hogland and finished with five kills in six errorless attempts and three blocks.

Tournament Most Outstanding Player Dimitrios Mouchlias recorded a matchhigh 22 kills, hitting .390 with five digs and two blocks. He posted nine kills in a marathon first set and eight kills in the fourth set. Fellow Greek Spyros Chakas was also named to the all-tournament team after finishing with nine kills, two aces, four digs and five blocks.

Thelle, UH’s third all-tourney selection, dished out 34 assists and led the Rainbow Warriors to a .273 team hitting percentage.

The Bruins (19-2) were led by Ido David’s 21 kills while Merrick McHenry added 11 kills and five blocks.

The Warriors will open Big West play next week with a pair of matches against defending regular-season champion Long Beach State, Friday and Saturday.