Brooke Sedore led the University of Hawaii in kills. Taylor Averill set the pace with his blocks. Sinisa Zarkovic, Nick West and Jace Olsen came up with some big points of their own.
The Rainbow Warriors volleyball team used a group effort Friday night to come back and knock off No. 2 BYU in five sets, 16-25, 19-25, 26-24, 25-18, 15-12 in Honolulu.
The match was tied 25 times, including at 19 points in the third set as UH (14-10, 12-9 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) began to turn matters in its favor as it moved into a tie with UCLA for the eighth place in the league standings. The top eight teams advance to the conference tournament.
Sedore smacked a match-high 17 kills with six blocks and Zarkovic added 10, including the biggest of the match. Zarkovic erased a match point for the Cougars (18-5, 18-3) with a kill in Game 3, allowing UH to stay in the match after two consecutive BYU errors.
Zarkovic and Olsen (eight kills) put down balls as UH gained breathing room in the decisive set by hitting a crisp .421, ending a seven-match losing streak to BYU. West contributed 10 kills and Averill compiled seven to go along with eight blocks for the Rainbow Warriors, who hit .226 for the match.
Led by Taylor Sander’s 16 kills, BYU was most efficient in the first set (.526), finishing at .259.
Baseball
Andrew Morales tossed 7 1/3 shutout innings and Kris Paulino hit a two-run home run as UC Irvine spoiled UH’s Big West home opener with a 7-1 win.
Matt Cooper (3-2) suffered the loss. In 6 1/3 innings, he gave up three earned runs on eight hits and three walks with a two strikeouts.
Marcus Doi and Austin Wobrock each finished with two hits for UH (14-14, 2-2 Big West), which didn’t score until Wobrock’s run-scoring double in the ninth.
Morales ran his record to 6-0 for the Anteaters (19-10, 3-1), scattering seven hits with a walk and two strikeouts.
Softball
Samantha Galarza doubled to ignite a rally in the top of the ninth and Leesa Harris added a run-scoring single as Cal State Fullerton beat UH 5-3.
The loss in their Big West home opener ended a five-game winning streak for the Rainbow Wahine (18-15, 3-1 Big West).
Loie Kesterson (10-6) went the distance and took the loss, allowing 12 hits and four walks with five strikeouts.
Leisha Liilii hit a three-run home run in the first inning for UH, but Jasmine Antunez (9-7) came on and tossed 8 2/3 innings of scoreless relief for the Titans (22-13-1, 3-1).
Liilii and Kayla Wartner each finished with two hits for UH.
Water polo
UH lost a three-goal lead in the fourth quarter, then Kelcie Ferreira’s goal with just 41 seconds left in the second overtime lifted No. 7 Cal State Northridge to a 9-8 victory in Northridge, Calif.
Chloe Barr, Mirella Coutinho and Caity Lopes da Silva each scored two goals for the No. 9 Rainbow Wahine (13-9, 1-2 Big West), who have lost four straight.
Melissa Doll had a hat trick for the Matadors (21-6, 3-0).