Photo Gallery at No. 4 Hawaii

HONOLULU—Fourth-ranked Hawaii registered a straight-set win over visiting NJIT, 3-0, (25-17, 25-11, 25-13) Thursday night on the first day of the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Warrior Classic at Stan Sheriff Center.

In the teams' first meeting since 2009, the Rainbow Warriors (1-0) hit .619 for the match and served 12 aces. Outside hitter Colton Cowell was nearly perfect offensively with 12 kills in 15 attempts and no errors, hitting .800. He also added three digs and three blocks.

Outside hitter Stijn van Tilburg recorded 11 kills, hitting .562 while setter Joe Worsley (5) and middle blocker Dalton Solbrig (4) and combined for nine aces.

NJIT (0-3), who has opened the season, facing two ranked top-15 teams, was paced by Alvaro Gimeno with 11 kills, hitting .526.  Junior middle Luca Berger finished with a .571 hitting percentage, posting four kills on seven attempts with no errors.

NJIT took control of the first set, jumping out to a 9-6 lead. The Warriors evened the frame at 11-11 and took a 19-15 lead behind the serving of Worsley. UH extended its lead to 22-16 with four unanswered and closed out the set on a 10-2 run.

The Warriors jumped out to a 14-2 lead in the second set and extended its advantage to 18-3, closing out the set with five aces in the frame to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Hawaii continued its momentum into the third set, taking an 18-11 lead after an ace by Brett Rosenmeier.  The Warriors used a 6-0 run to close out the set with a 25-13 victory and the sweep.

NJIT will return to action on Friday at 4pm (HT) | 9pm (ET) when the Highlanders face USC.  In the opening match of the tournament, USC swept Concordia Irvine, 25-14, 25-18, 25-14.