Friday, it was the 1-2 knockout punch of Jonas Umlauft and Joshua Walker.

Last night, it was just as effective for the ninth-ranked Warriors, who took the two-match series from UC Irvine for the first time since 2005. As a turnstile crowd of 2,881 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched last night, Hawaii turned back the defending NCAA champions 30-26, 32-30, 26-30, 20-30, 15-11 in 3 hours 12 minutes.

Umlauft finished with 21. It was well off the 37 the freshman opposite put down in Friday's 30-28, 30-20, 27-30, 25-30, 20-18 marathon, a total that set the school record for kills in the rally score era that began in 2001.

Walker had 22 kills, five coming in the deciding fifth set. Matt Rawson added 12 kills to go along with seven blocks and Steven Hunt had 10 kills.

The two wins vaulted the Warriors (6-3, 4-2 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) into a tie for third in the MPSF with UC Santa Barbara and Brigham Young. The three are one game behind CSU Northridge and a half-game behind USC.

UCI, getting 21 kills from Carson Clark and 21 from Jordan DuFault, dropped to 5-6 and 1-5.

Hawaii didn't panic when falling behind early in Set 1, 10-6 and 15-13. Helped by UCI's shaky serving (eight errors), the Warriors chipped away, catching the Anteaters at 17 on a kill by Brennon Dyer.

It was tied four more times, the last at 22, when Matt Rawson connected on a quick set from Nejc Zemljak. Rawson then set Umlauft to give Hawaii the lead for good at 23-22.

The Warriors expanded it to 25-22 when Clark hit the antenna and Walker tipped it over a triple block. The Anteaters never got closer than two, the last at 28-26.

Hawaii closed it out on two kills by Umlauft. The set-ender came via a spectacular set from Zemljak, who was running in the opposite direction and connected on a crosscourt backset to Umlauft for the opposite's sixth kill.

Set 2 began as a replay of Set 1, with UCI taking an early lead and Hawaii playing catch-up. Trailing 4-0 and 12-8, the Warriors reeled off seven unanswered points, punctuated by Zemljak's ace that hit the tape and dribbled over for a 15-12 lead.

The Anteaters refused to go quietly. Staring at a 26-21 hole, UCI dug itself out behind four kills from Clark that tied it at 27.

Walker bounced one off Clark's hand and Zemljak and Dyer stuffed Hughes for set point. The Warriors needed four swings at ending it, with Umlauft again putting down the 'bailout ball”; for his 10th kill and a 2-0 lead.

It was deja vu from Friday with the Anteaters coming out determined not to be swept. UCI again jumped out to early leads with Hawaii again playing catch-up.

The Warriors appeared poised for a sweep when Rawson and Hunt blocked Clark on consecutive plays to put Hawaii ahead at 20-18.

Behind the serves of Kevin Wynne, UCI rolled off six straight points to take the lead for good at 24-20.