HONOLULU, Hawaii (January 5, 2018)  – Sophomore David Lehman recorded a match-high 16 kills, but a feisty Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team fell to Division I's fifth-ranked University of Hawaii, 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-9) on the opening day of the inaugural Texaco Rainbow Warrior Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center early Friday morning. It was the 2018 season opener for both programs.

Junior Dylan DeBoer added eight kills for Stevens, who held leads in each of the first two sets. Stevens fell to 0-1. 

Austin Matautia led the hosts with 12 kills and Rado Parapunov added nine as Hawaii opened the 2018 1-0. It was the second-ever meeting between the programs. The Rainbow Warriors defeated Stevens 3-0 to open the 2015 season.

No. 12 USC swept Juniata College in the opening match of the event.

Volleys and Points

• Lehman converted a Jacob Patterson set for the first Stevens point of the 2018 season.
• The Ducks earned their first lead of the season on the very next point as Lehman converted a Joshua Hinton feed.
• Stevens took a 5-4 advantage after consecutive attack errors by the hosts and would hold the lead throughout the opening stanza. Stevens led by as many as four points (14-10).
• The Rainbow Warriors reclaimed a lead (20-17) with four straight points, punctuated by back-to-back Brett Rosenmeier aces, leading to a Stevens timeout.
• The Ducks continued to battle, drawing to within a single point on three separate occasions, but Rosenmeir converted a Joe Worsley set to give Hawaii the opening set. Worsley finished with a match-high 31 assists.
• In the second frame, it was again Stevens that came out firing in the early going, scoring the first point of the set and taking a two-point advantage on a kill by sophomore Jonathan Frenzel.
• The teams alternated points until the hosts surged ahead 17-13 following the media timeout. Hawaii has not lost on its home court since 2015.
• Graduate student Gabe Shankweiler and Frenzel teamed to block a Parapunov attack to Lehman converted a Grant Burden set to pull the Ducks within two.
• Lehman converted a pair of Patterson feeds and Parapunov misfired on an attack to bring Stevens within one.
• With Lehman serving, Hawaii quickly shut down the Stevens rally. Dalton Solbring connected from the outside to return the serve to the home team and the Rainbow Warriors scored three of the next four points to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Matautia pinned down his eighth kill of the stanza to close the set. 
• After back-and-forth action dictated the opening two sets, Hawaii pulled ahead early in the final frame.
• Tied at one, Matautia converted two Worsley sets and the potent Hawaii block rejected two attacks to give Hawaii a 6-1 lead, forcing a Stevens timeout.
• After the timeout, Hawaii scored three straight points to take its largest lead of the match.
• Senior Thomas Burrell and Lehman teamed to block a Matautia attack to return the serve to Ducks.
• Patrick Gasman set down a Worsley set to return the serve to the home team.
• Hawaii scored the next two points to open a 10-point lead. The Rainbow Warriors maintained a double-digit advantage over the remainder of the match.

Match Point

• Consecutive Stevens attack errors closed out the final set.

Inside the Numbers

• Stevens hit 0.161 over the match, but hit 0.345 over the first two sets.
• Hawaii held the edge in aces (6-1) and blocks (10-5).
• Freshman Ryan Byrne recorded three kills on six assists in his collegiate debut.
• Freshman Jack Bittker played two sets in his first collegiate match.
• Patterson led the team with 27 assists.

Coach Speak

• "I think we came out playing really well against a very high level of competition."
• "We passed great, which allowed us to run an efficient offense - hitting 0.345 through the first two sets."
• "Our serve-receive broke down a bit to start the third [set] and we had a hard time recovering.
• "Overall, we are pleased for our first time out playing against the number five team in the country on their home court and giving them a highly-competitive match."

Unsung Heroes

• Senior middle Thomas Burrell, who finished fourth in the country in blocks per set as a junior, totaled four blocks in the season-opener.

Up Next

• Stevens will take on the University of Southern California on the second day of the Texaco Rainbow Warrior Classic. It will be the first meeting between the programs.
• Live stats available at StevensDucks.com.

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