Warriors survive against Cards

Night 2 of the Outrigger Hotels Invitational is always difficult, particularly for the two teams that lost on opening night. And when they end up meeting on the second night, well, it becomes akin to the "Survivor" TV show slogan: Outwit. Outplay. Outlast.

The No. 11 Hawaii men's team won the "Survivor" game last night at the Stan Sheriff Center, wearing down Ball State 26-30, 30-26, 30-24, 30-17. Behind a very effective block, led by freshman middle Keali'i Frank's 11, the Warriors picked up their first win of the season after 2 hours and 12 minutes.

The prize?

Hawaii (1-1) will see a very motivated UCLA team in tonight's 7 o'clock finale. The third-ranked Bruins (1-1) were stunned by No. 4 Penn State (2-0) in yesterday's first match 30-19, 30-26, 38-36.

The Nittany Lions are poised to win their first championship in 14 visits when taking on the Cardinals (0-2) today at 4 p.m.

A turnstile crowd of 1,244 saw junior hitter Jim Clar put down a career-high 23 kills and senior opposite Jake Schkud add 12. The Warriors finished with a 21.5-7.5 edge in blocks, with freshman hitter Dusan Matic in on seven and Clar and setter Sean Carney both in on six.

"Our servers were great and it made (the Cardinals) do some things they didn't want to do," Frank said. "We're looking forward to seeing UCLA. They're a great team and we're ready to fight."

After dropping Game 1, Hawaii fought back in Game 2, turning the match with its block. The Warriors stuffed the Cardinals seven times -- with Frank and Schkud in on three each -- in tying it at 1-1.

The block party continued in Game 3, with Hawaii rejecting another seven Ball State attempts. The Warriors broke open a tight Game 4 on Schkud's 5-0 serving run to take a commanding 24-15 lead.

Reserve setter Nejc Zemljak served for another four, highlighted by Carney smashing an overpass off the head of BSU's Lee Meyer. After Ball State held off one match point, Clar put down the final kill, breaking his previous career high by one.

"I think the difference between last night and tonight was we were sharper on our offense and not sloppy on defense," said Clar, who had three of the team's six aces.

The difference was also in mental toughness, Carney said.

"No one wants to be 0-2 right now," he said. "We're such a young team and the difference is that tonight we were one game older. Ball State is a great team and we knew we'd be in for a tough match.

"We've got a small block, but our blockers were solid tonight, got up big. Both Penn State and Ball State have made us better. We know UCLA is going to be another challenge and they'll only make us better, too."

Matt Sprague led Ball State with 12 kills and Matt McCarthy added 11.

Penn State 3, UCLA 0

It was a very sweet sweep for Nittany Lions setter Luke Murray, who led his team to its first 3-0 win over the Bruins in 30 meetings. It was only the sixth time PSU had come out with a victory over UCLA, the first since a 3-1 win in the 1997 Outrigger Invitational, ending a streak of 11 consecutive losses.

Matt Anderson, a 6-foot-10 junior hitter, put down a match-high 24 kills and junior Ryan Sweitzer added 13 kills and was in on five of PSU's nine blocks. The Lions won the dig battle 40-29.

Sophomore hitter Garrett Muagututia led UCLA with 14 kills and Dylan Bowermaster had 12.

The Lions held off five game points in Game 3 before putting down their third attempt on Anderson's last kill.

"We got real predictable at the end," UCLA coach Al Scates said. "They're a good team, certainly further along than the rest of us."

"This was really big win for us and for me personally," Murray said. "We knew we had to stay aggressive (at the end), not look at the scoreboard and stick to our game plan.

"This doesn't mean anything, per se, it's early. But it's a good measuring stick."