Hawaii and UC Irvine were on-court equals for much of Friday night.

When the top-ranked Rainbow Warriors finished off a four-set victory in the series opener at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center, they had drawn even with the Anteaters atop the Big West men’s volleyball standings.

Hawaii opposite Dimitrios Mouchlias put away a season-high 23 kills and set a career best with six blocks as the Warriors handed No. 5 UC Irvine its first conference loss and forced a three-way tie for the lead with the 25-16, 17-25, 25-23, 25-22 victory before a crowd of 6,710.

“If you ask all of our guys we all like to play against really good teams, really strong players,” Mouchlias said. “That’s what we enjoy the most. That’s what competitive volleyball is.”

The Warriors (23-2, 6-1 Big West) will take a six-match winning streak into tonight’s rematch with the Anteaters (16-7, 6-1) in the series finale. Long Beach State (17-3, 6-1) also enters today’s play tied for first place after rallying from two sets down at Cal State Northridge on Friday.

Mouchlias led a UH attack that hit .451, with outside hitter Spyros Chakas finishing with 14 kills on .419 hitting and firing three of UH’s six aces. Outside hitter Chaz Galloway added nine kills on 19 attacks.

UH setter Jakob Thelle distributed 49 assists and had seven digs and ended the pivotal third set with his second kill of the match.

Middle blockers Guilherme Voss and Cole Hogland both had six kills in eight swings, with Hogland hammering match point to give UH it’s 11th straight win over UCI.

After UH ran away with the opening set, UC Irvine dominated the second with 16 kills and no errors in 25 attacks while converting on 15 of 17 sideout opportunities. After the intermission, the Warriors and Anteaters traded runs to a 23-23 tie before Thelle fed Hogland for a kill and landed a tip into the middle of the court to give UH the set.

“For us it’s always about the level of engagement,” UH coach Charlie Wade said. “I thought we executed a little better coming out for the third set.”

Chakas had four kills in a 6-0 run with Thelle on the service line that gave UH a 13-8 lead in the fourth set and the Warriors held off the Anteaters through Hogland’s final kill.

“They’re a really good team,” Chakas said. “Everyone’s a good hitter. They have a setter who can set the ball really well and so do we. … High hitting percentages, really hard serves and that’s some really high-level volleyball.”

UCI opposite Francesco Sani, the reigning AVCA National Player of the Week, led the Anteaters with 19 kills on 33 attacks to hit .455. Outside hitter Hilir Henno, the nation’s leader in aces per set, shook off a slow start to post 14 kills and three aces. Outside hitter Cole Gillis had 12 kills on 13 swings through three sets but went 0-for-9 with four errors in the fourth.

Setter Joe Karlous had 48 assists and kept UCI hitting above .400 for much of the night before finishing at .396. Perhaps his most memorable play didn’t count when he attempted to save a ball while sitting on the press table amongst the Spectrum Sports broadcast crew. The point was awarded to UH because he was off the court.

“We definitely improved tonight as we went through and started to calibrate to the environment. You’re walking into the lions’ den here,” UCI coach David Kniffin said.

“We’re a team that can stick around with anybody … It’s stringing together the consistency. Hawaii’s got a pretty seasoned team in terms of consistency and we’re still evolving as a team and we’re still improving.”

The serving advantage tilted to UH in an opening set all but decided with Keoni Thiim’s six-point service turn off the bench that gave the Warriors a 16-9 lead. Thiim fired the second of UH’s three aces in the set and Chakas forced a free ball and an overpass to set up the Warriors’ final two points of the set.

Henno’s four-point service turn sparked a 9-1 run that gave UCI a 20-11 lead and command of the second set.

UH saw a 19-15 lead in the third set wiped out by a four-point service turn from Gillis, but the Warriors edged ahead 23-21 and UH appeared to have set point for a moment at 24-21. But UCI issued a challenge and the point was replayed. UCI capitalized with Henno’s tip for a kill and a block to tie the set. After a UH timeout, Thelle set up Hogland for a kill in the middle, then finished the next rally himself to give UH the set and the lead in the match.