As a three-match road trip progressed through the state of North Carolina, the Hawaii men’s volleyball team went deeper and deeper down the depth chart.

The result Saturday was the same: a sweep. UH (7-0) took all nine sets on the trip after dispatching another nascent program, Barton College, 25-11, 25-19, 25-14 at Wilson Gymnasium in the Eastern region of the state.

For the No. 1 Rainbow Warriors’ third match in four days, coach Charlie Wade gave new or expanded opportunities to middle Kurt Nusterer, opposite Alaka‘i Todd, libero ‘Eleu Choy and hitter Cole Ottmar. For Ottmar, a redshirt freshman from Spangle, Wash., it was his UH debut, and he delivered eight kills, four digs and two blocks.

The Punahou alumnus Todd had a career game with 13 kills and three errors on 22 swings (.455).

Cole Hogland and Brett Sheward were the only regulars to see action, and the libero Sheward reprised his old role of setter. He had 24 assists and guided the team to a .429 hitting day to the .023 of Barton (0-5).

Nusterer and Hogland combined to put down 11 kills with no errors on 14 swings in the middle. Hogland had a block solo and four block assists as UH had a season-high nine stuffs.

Utility hitter Filip Humler made his first appearance of the season coming off a preseason injury and had a kill and an ace.

UH returns home for a bye week before heading back out on the road for two matches at Stanford (6-1) on Feb. 10 and 11.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.