HONOLULU, HI – The Roberts Wesleyan University Men's Volleyball team battled hard in front of a national television audience but dropped a 4-0 decision late Friday night and early Saturday morning to No. 3 ranked University of Hawaii in the second match of the team's trip to Hawaii.
Sophomore Landon Brouwer recorded a double-double with match-highs of 32 assists and 11 digs to lead Roberts (2-2) as the match was televised on the ESPN+ network.
Hawaii (7-1), ranked No. 3 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) national poll, won by set scores of 25-22, 25-22 and 25-20.
In the first set, the Redhawks trailed by six points at 22-16 late in the set but rallied to score five of the next six points to trim the lead to just two points at 23-21 on the strength of kills by sophomore Ryan DeJohn, junior Paul Fillion and freshman Jordan Hoover along with a service ace by Brouwer. Hawaii used a pair of late kills to close out the first set.
Roberts used another 6-1 rally late in set two to close a scoring gap to 18-17 as freshman Jayce Moore connected for three kills while Fillion and freshman Gavin Terp added kills for the Redhawks.
A Hawaii attack error and an ace from Brouwer tied the score at 19-19 but the Rainbows closed out the set with four of the final six points to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
In the third set, Hawaii took an early lead before a pair of Hoover kills and a Moore kill cut the Hawaii lead to 20-18. Fillion and Terp added late kills but 6-10 outside hitter Kainoa Wade closed out the match with two of his match-leading 18 kills to secure the win.
Fillion led Roberts with 11 kills and added a .348 attack percentage while Terp contributed 10 kills and a team-best .533 percentage. Hoover and Moore combined for 17 kills. Brouwer handed out 32 assists, two aces and had 11 digs while Fillion and senior Moises Jimenez recorded eight digs each.
Roberts returns home and will face Farleigh Dickinson University with back-to-back matches Monday and Tuesday night in the Voller Athletic Center.
