Ja?

Ja. As good as advertised.

Freshman Jonas Umlauft had no trouble making the transition from the German junior national team to collegiate volleyball, and 12th-ranked Hawaii made a very smooth transition into the Charlie Wade coaching era last night.

Umlauft had 14 kills, two aces and plenty of help as the Warriors swept No. 10 Ohio State 30-20, 30-20, 30-26 in the second match of the 16th Outrigger Hotels Invitational volleyball tournament at the Stan Sheriff Center. Junior hitter Joshua Walker had a match-high 17 kills, hitting for a career-high .652, and the Warriors middles combined for 15 kills with one error in dispatching the Buckeyes in 104 minutes.

It was the second year that Hawaii (1-0) opened with a win over Ohio State (0-1) and the first time the Warriors have won consecutive season openers since 2000-01.

“;It felt really good tonight,”; said Umlauft, whose parents and grandmother were among the 1,747 (2,828 tickets) in attendance. “;We had the crowd behind us and we felt the support.

“;Tomorrow, we can play even better.”;

The Warriors take on Penn State in tonight's second match. The Nittany Lions (0-1) were swept in yesterday's opener by top-ranked USC, 30-28, 30-24, 30-24 in an hour and 52 minutes.

The Trojans (1-0) meet Ohio State (0-1) in today's 4 p.m. match.

“;They're another good team with most of their players back from the team that went to the final four,”; Wade said. “;That's where we want to be.

“;We've asked so much from our guys, and winning on the court just validates everything we've been doing the past months. It was good, not great. But all wins are good.”;

The Warriors hit .411 for the night, cooling off in Set 3 to .297. They out-dug the Buckeyes 36-21 and finished with a 5-0 edge in aces, three by sophomore Gus Tuaniga.

Senior middle Steven Grgas added seven kills with no errors and a key assist on a set to Umlauft that put Hawaii ahead 27-24 in Set 3. Senior middle Matt Rawson had eight kills with one error.

“;Tonight established what we are about,”; Grgas said. “;We had good energy. We had fun. It was a good start to the season.

“;I was very proud of (Umlauft). He had a lot of pressure on him, a lot of hype coming into tonight. He did all you could ask of him.”;

There was no question that Hawaii had plenty of energy to open the match. The Warriors started off with an impressive performance in Set 1, hitting .700 in rolling to a 24-13 lead.

Walker, showcasing his amazing jumping ability, had 11 kills with no errors through Set 2. His first error didn't happen until he was blocked on the first play of Set 3.

The Buckeyes, getting 11 kills from Shawn Sangrey, didn't solve their serving problems until late. Ohio State had 14 serving errors through Set 2 but only five in Set 3 when pushing Hawaii the hardest.

The Buckeyes had their biggest lead at 16-14 only to have a kill by Rawson tie it at 18. It was 22-22 before a kill by Umlauft put the Warriors ahead for good at 23-22.

“;I think this sends a message,”; Walker said. “;And it feels good.”;

“;We know UH will be fired up to play us, have a good crowd in,”; Penn State coach Mark Pavlik said. “;But this is why we come. It's a great tournament. We'll see what we are made of.”;

No. 1 USC 3, No. 5 Penn State 0

It was deja vu in the rematch of an NCAA championship semifinal from last May.

The Trojans ended the Nittany Lions' season eight months ago and handed them their first loss of the new one. Tony Ciarelli put down 14 kills, and he and junior setter Riley McKibbin had key serving runs in Set 3 that led to a sweep.

“;It wasn't anything that (the Trojans) were doing that did us in,”; Pavlik said. “;We were just less spectacular than they were.

“;This will be good for us. I'd rather have a night like this in the first game of the season than have it happen in the middle of the year and have to figure things out then.

“;And we need our All-Americans to play like ones.”;

One who didn't was Nittany Lions junior opposite Will Price (six kills, .038). Penn State was led by Joe Sunder's 14 kills.