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CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM / APRIL 6
Outside hitter Brett Rosenmeier walked through a tunnel made by teammates during senior night.
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CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM / APRIL 6
For the first time in 22 years, the Stan Sheriff Center was sold out for a UH men’s volleyball match.
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April 6
Senior night vs. UC Santa Barbara
Hawaii wins 25-16, 25-21, 23-25, 25-19
One streak continued, one ended on the night that Hawaii’s four seniors celebrated their final regular-season home match. Brett Rosenmeier, Dalton Solbrig, Stijn van Tilburg and Joe Worsley had heard the stories of the arena sellouts — eight between April 22, 1995 and April 12, 1997 — and dreamed that they would get one before their careers ended.
Their senior night was the first sellout in 22 years, setting an attendance record of 10,300 (previous capacity was 10,225). After 2 hours and 23 minutes, the Warriors had extended their program-best winning streak to 25 — sixth-best in NCAA history — but saw its NCAA men’s record consecutive sets-won streak end at 74 when it dropped Set 3 to the Gauchos. (Penn State holds the women’s record at 111).
Down 2-0, the Gauchos were in control of Set 2 early, leading by as many as six, the last at 22-16. Hawaii nearly pulled it out, closing to 24-23 by holding off two set points, and had a swing to tie. Senior hitter Stijn van Tilburg, who was 4-for-4 accounting for the Warriors’ last four kills, was dug on his next attempt and UCSB used a 3-meter attack from Corey Chavers to put No. 74 in the record book. It obliterated the previous Division I-II mark of 32 held by the Rainbow Warriors (2017) and shared by Long Beach State.
Set 4 wasn’t close until a late charge by the Gauchos. The Warriors jumped out to a 10-3 lead behind two aces by junior middle Patrick Gasman. UCSB rallied from 20-13 to close to 23-18 and 24-19; Hawaii needed just one match point to end it, getting it on a service error by Chavers.