No. 1 Hawaii surged late in all three sets to sweep UC Santa Barbara in today’s Big West men’s volleyball series opener in Santa Barbara, Calif.

The last two of Hawaii outside hitter Spyros Chakas’ team-high 13 kills closed out the Rainbow Warriors’ 25-22, 25-21, 29-27 victory over the Gauchos in Rob Gymnasium and UH (21-2, 4-1 Big West) earned its 14th consecutive win over UCSB.

Chakas hit .500 to lead a Warriors attack that hit a collective .420. UH middle blocker Guilherme Voss put away nine of his 11 attacks and was in on four blocks. Outside hitter Chaz Galloway and opposite Dimitrios Mouchlias posted eight kills each. UH setter Jakob Thelle distributed 35 assists and put away five kills in six swings. Mouchlias also led UH’s floor defense with 10 digs.

UCSB opposite Nick Amoruso led the Gauchos (5-14, 1-4) with 16 kills in 37 attempts and outside hitter Dayne Chalmers added 10 kills. Punahou graduate Ryan Wilcox had nine kills, eight digs and an ace for the Gauchos and former UH setter Jack Walmer finished with 36 assists, seven digs and three aces.

The first set was tied 21-21 before UH went on a 4-1 run and ended the set with a Galloway kill. UH rallied from a 9-2 deficit in the second set and Kana’i Akana’s service turn off the bench helped fuel a 5-1 surge to close the set

The teams traded runs in the third and UCSB went on a 5-1 surge to earn set point at 24-22. A kill by Voss kept UH alive and serving substitute Keoni Thiim delivered an ace to force deuce. A Galloway kill pushed UH ahead and UCSB fought off three match points before Chakas again scored from the left side, then ended a rally to close out the set and the match.

The Warriors improved to 8-0 on the road this season and face the Gauchos again on Saturday at 4 p.m.