JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Hawaii outside hitter Chaz Galloway puts down a kill against UC Irvine setter Joe Karlous.
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A three-way tie atop the Big West men’s volleyball standings was reduced to two with Hawaii’s sweep of UC Irvine on Saturday.
No. 1 UH rallied late in the first set and broke away from the fifth-ranked Anteaters in the next two in a 26-24, 25-20, 25-19 victory before a “Magnum P.I. Night” crowd of 7,748 tonight at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
UH opposite Dimitrios Mouchlias led the Rainbow Warriors with 12 kills and delivered three of their eight aces. Outside hitter Chaz Galloway added nine kills, two aces and four blocks in UH’s seventh straight win.
Setter Jakob Thelle finished with 36 assists and three kills for an attack that hit .424 and fed middle blocker Cole Hogland for eight kills on 11 error-free attacks.
>> PHOTOS: Hawaii vs. UC Irvine
UH (24-2, 7-1 Big West) completed a sweep of the two-match series and will enter the final week of the regular season tied with Long Beach State (18-3, 7-1) for first place in the conference race.
The Warriors close the regular season with a series against UC San Diego (8-14, 2-6) starting Friday, with senior night set for Saturday.
UC Irvine (16-8, 6-2) entered the week as the lone unbeaten team in Big West play but dropped to third with two losses in Manoa.
UCI opposite Francesco Sani put away a match-high 15 kills and outside hitter Cole Gillis added 12. Hilir Henno, the nation’s leader in aces, scored on his first two serves of the match, but UH effectively handled UCI’s serves for much of the evening.
