Hawaii men's volleyball team wins Outrigger Invitational over UC Irvine

Mar. 11—Keoni Thiim and Alaka'i Todd had aces in the decisive fifth set to help No. 3 Hawaii win the Outrigger Invitational in a thriller over No. 5 UC Irvine, 23-25, 25-19, 25-22, 17-25, 15-13 tonight at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

The victory was the 16th in a row for Hawaii (17-1), but came after a difficult sight on one of four match points for UH when senior outside hitter Spyros Chakas went down on a swing holding his knee.

A crowd of 6,923 went dead silent as Chakas was down on the court. He eventually had to be carried off by teammates.

Hilir Henno, who had a career-high 36 kills, put down his third ace to make it 14-13 before Guilherme Voss ended it with his eighth kill.

Kurt Nusterer assisted on three Hawaii blocks in the fifth set as UH out blocked the Anteaters 15-10.

Chakas finished with a team-high 17 kills and eight digs for UH, which got a big boost off the bench from Thiim.

Thiim finished with five aces, five kills, five assists and 12 digs.

Brett Sheward 30 assists, 22 digs and three kills for the Anteaters (13-6).

Hawaii will open the Big West Conference season next week at No. 2 Long Beach State.