JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii's Matt Bender put down a kill against Loyola-Chicago's Chris Kozlarek last night.

Bender starts; UH wins

Matt Bender has been waiting a long time to regain a starting position. Hawaii's senior outside hitter has been sidelined since the first week of January with a sprained ankle, seeing limited action in just three of the Warriors' first 18 matches.

Bender didn't have the debut he had hoped for last night, exiting late in Game 3 with a negative hitting percentage and Hawaii trailing 25-23. But the No. 3 Warriors were able to give the Arizona native what he wanted, a sweep of No. 10 Loyola-Chicago, 30-28, 30-19, 33-31.

A Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 2,847 (4,151 tickets) saw Hawaii improve to 15-4 with its 11th consecutive victory. The Ramblers fell to 16-6 after the 1 hour, 46 minute matchup.

"It looked like it's been a while, didn't it?" asked Bender, who had seven kills but eight errors. "It was fun but ... I always feel that, even if I play well, I can always play better. And I definitely didn't play that well tonight.

"I have to thank Coach (Mike Wilton) for giving me the opportunity to get back out there. I'm looking forward to seeing the starters back out there. They play so well together, they mesh so well together. At the end, they were calm. It's a big deal, especially in big games."

Although it was a nonconference win for Hawaii against the top team in the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, it was a good sendoff present for the Warriors. Hawaii plays its next four matches on the road -- at Pacific for two and Stanford for two -- before returning home to host UC San Diego on April 7-8.

Also giving the Warriors a boost is knowing they can come back against a very good team. They did it twice, when trailing in Game 1 17-13 and 27-26, and again in Game 3.

Hawaii was poised for an easy sweep, leading 18-13 in Game 3, only to have Loyola rally to tie it at 23-23. When Bender was blocked by Corey Kloos and Joe Guntli to give the Ramblers the lead at 24-23, Wilton replaced Bender with Lauri Hakala.

The Warriors finally caught the Ramblers at 27 on Hakala's eighth kill. It would be tied four more times, with Loyola holding off three Hawaii match points.

Matt Carere's 17th kill gave the Warriors their fourth shot at ending it at 32-31 and a hitting error by Loyola's Chris Kozlarek ended it.

"I think tonight we showed that we play well together and it's testament to the character of the guys on the team," said Carere, who also had two of the team's five aces. "It's great to have different guys in the lineup and still come out with a 'W.'

"It doesn't matter who's in the lineup, we play hard for each other every night. Bender is my roommate and I like when he's out there playing of course, glad he got back and got some reps. We've got a long roadie coming up and it will be a tough four matches. We're going to try to get four 'Ws.' "

Unlike Friday, when Hawaii had four players in double-figure kills, only Carere reached the mark last night.

The Warriors had a very balanced attack, with middles Dio Dante and Mauli'a La Barre combining for 17 kills and just one error each. Jose Delgado, whom Bender replaced as a starter, had six kills with only one error while playing in Game 3.

Guntli led Loyola with 15 kills and Kozlarek added 13.

Hawaii senior libero Alfred Reft had 13 of the team's 49 digs, moving him into second place in career digs with 737. He needs just three more to pass Allen Allen as the all-time leader.

"Loyola is a really good volleyball team and we were good enough," Wilton said. "I liked our composure in Game 3. I liked that Jose was a good teammate and understood we needed to get Bender some court time.

"Bender's the ideal fireman. We're going to need somebody. There's going to come a time when we're going to need someone to come in and I'm glad we have him in reserve."